Hypothyroidism, as well as hyperthyroidism can pose a risk in terms of cardiac rhythm disorders. The military pilots must be healthy in terms of cardiovascular diseases as well as all the other diseases that may affect the flight safety. In this study, we aimed to investigate the factors associated with p wave dispersion that may pose risks in terms of the development of atrial fibrillation.

A total of 75 military pilots, 3 (4%) of whom were females, were enrolled in the study. For the five-year periodic examination of all pilots for flight, complete blood count, routine biochemical tests and electrocardiographic examinations were performed. The mean age was 28.7 ± 7.2 in women’s group, and 36.5 ± 8.9 in men’s group. There was no significant difference in terms of p wave dispersion between male and female pilots (37.3 ± 6.1 and 39.1 ± 13.3 msec, respectively, p = 0.68). The average TSH levels were similar in both male and female pilots (1.98 ± 1.1 and 2.28 ± 1.8 μIU/ ml, p = 0.793, respectively). In correlation analysis, the p wave dispersion was associated with TSH levels (r = 0.279, p = 0.016). In addition, serum uric acid levels were associated with minimum and maximum p wave durations (r = 0.384, p = 0.001, r = 0.357, p=0.002).

According to the results of our study, there were correlations between TSH levels and p wave dispersion and between serum uric acid levels and p wave duration in military pilots required to be completely healthy. This reveals that the p wave dispersion is an important parameter to be considered during the periodic examination of the military pilots.