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Seasickness and its impact on researchers’ work on board French oceanographic vessels
Affiliations- ORPHY Laboratory, University Brest, Brest, France
- French Society for Maritime Medicine, Brest, France
- Centre for Occupational Medicine (Santé au Travail en Iroise), Brest, France, 6bis rue de Kervezennec, 29200 Brest, France
open access
Abstract
Background: Seasickness (SS) is an often hidden pathology, but one that can significantly disrupt work on board. The aim of the study is to evaluate the influence of SS on the workability of workers on board vessels.
Materials and methods: We performed a cross-sectional questionnaire study conducted on 250 oceanographers in 2015 during 3 months. Based on the “Bos seasickness susceptibility questionnaire”, we created a specific questionnaire with 49 questions.
Results: 151 men and 72 women responded to the survey. 188 of them (91.7% of women and 80.8% of men) report being seasick, either occasionally (69%) or at each boarding where there is female predominance (23.6% vs. 11.3% for men). The major symptoms are nausea (82%) and vomiting (56%). 60% of the workers think that SS has an influence on the success of their mission, by first affecting their mood (50%), relationship (23%), and increased risk of accidents such as falls, accidents on machines or in laboratories (40%). Antinaupathic treatments also produce deleterious effects on their workstation. Women have higher risk of developing SS (odds ratio [OR] 2.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03–6.6; p = 0.04), more frequently taking medicines when ill (OR 4.1; 95% CI 1.27–13.2; p = 0.004) and coming with her own tablets (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.3–4.1; p = 0.04).
Conclusions: Gender is a trending factor of SS. Information on SS clinical signs, impact and therapeutics could be prone to prevent sickness and impact of it on workability.
Abstract
Background: Seasickness (SS) is an often hidden pathology, but one that can significantly disrupt work on board. The aim of the study is to evaluate the influence of SS on the workability of workers on board vessels.
Materials and methods: We performed a cross-sectional questionnaire study conducted on 250 oceanographers in 2015 during 3 months. Based on the “Bos seasickness susceptibility questionnaire”, we created a specific questionnaire with 49 questions.
Results: 151 men and 72 women responded to the survey. 188 of them (91.7% of women and 80.8% of men) report being seasick, either occasionally (69%) or at each boarding where there is female predominance (23.6% vs. 11.3% for men). The major symptoms are nausea (82%) and vomiting (56%). 60% of the workers think that SS has an influence on the success of their mission, by first affecting their mood (50%), relationship (23%), and increased risk of accidents such as falls, accidents on machines or in laboratories (40%). Antinaupathic treatments also produce deleterious effects on their workstation. Women have higher risk of developing SS (odds ratio [OR] 2.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03–6.6; p = 0.04), more frequently taking medicines when ill (OR 4.1; 95% CI 1.27–13.2; p = 0.004) and coming with her own tablets (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.3–4.1; p = 0.04).
Conclusions: Gender is a trending factor of SS. Information on SS clinical signs, impact and therapeutics could be prone to prevent sickness and impact of it on workability.
Keywords
maritime medicine, seasickness, onboard conditions
About this articleTitle
Seasickness and its impact on researchers’ work on board French oceanographic vessels
Journal
Issue
Article type
Original article
Pages
160-165
Published online
2020-09-28
Page views
830
Article views/downloads
874
DOI
Pubmed
Bibliographic record
IMH 2020;71(3):160-165.
Keywords
maritime medicine
seasickness
onboard conditions
Authors
David Lucas
Myriam Mehaneze
Brice Loddé
dominique Jegaden
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