The FAA is concerned that flight-safety could be compromised by undetected cognitive impairment in pilots due to conditions such as substance abuse, mental illness and neuropsychological problems. Interest has been shown in the possibility of adding a brief “mini mental exam”, or a simple automated test-battery to the standard flight medical to screen for such conditions. This paper reports an empirical evaluation of four such tests, focusing upon a prototype version of an automated screening battery, SPARTANS (Simple Portable Aviation Relevant Test-battery and Answer-scoring System).
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