Originally Posted by
rickair7777
I don't care about their pilot medical standards.
But no we shouldn't use foreign demographics either way. Japanese are presumably healthier (diet).
Most other foreign demographics are not as healthy as upper middle class Americans. We have access to and can afford decent healthcare, and are culturally inclined to healthy living. More so than most foreigners, who overall tend to smoke more and exercise less.
On the pilot side I disagree completely. Everyone talks about the astronaut physicals in other countries. There is truth to it having talked to people I fly with now that came from international carriers. So those people are presumably a lot healthier (either genetics or harder work at it because of their standards) than the average American pilot just to get a medical. tracking their decline as they get closer to 65 is probably not going to look as bad as it would be in the US just due to the high bar just to hold their version of a Class 1 to start with.
So yeah, you have to know what your control group is in a study.