Health of U.S. Navy submarine crew during periods of isolation.
BACKGROUND
An essential element in planning for long-term space missions is prediction of the medical support required. Medical data for analogous populations serving in isolated and/or contained environments are useful in predicting health risks for astronauts.


METHODS
This study evaluated the rates of health events that occurred among a highly screened, healthy military population during periods of isolation using a centralized database of medical encounter records from U.S. Navy submarines. The study population was composed of U.S. Navy officers and enlisted men deployed on 240 submarine patrols between 1 January 1997 and 30 September 2000.


RESULTS
A total of 1389 officers and 11,952 enlisted crew members served aboard participating submarines for 215,086 and 1,955,521 person-days at sea, respectively, during the study period. Officers had 214 initial visits to medical staff with 79 re-visits for the same condition during these patrols, while enlisted men had 3345 initial visits and 1549 re-visits. Among officers, the most common category of medical events was respiratory illnesses (primarily upper respiratory infections), followed by injury, musculoskeletal conditions, infectious diseases, symptoms and ill-defined conditions, and skin problems. Among enlisted men, the most common category of medical events was injury, followed by respiratory illnesses (upper respiratory infections), skin problems, symptoms and ill-defined conditions, digestive disorders, infectious conditions, sensory organ problems (ear infections and eye problems), and musculoskeletal conditions.


CONCLUSIONS
Potential mission-impacting medical events reported were rare, i.e., among a crew of seven officers, only one medical event would be expected to occur during a 6-mo mission and result in 3/4 d or less of limited or no duty. Among a crew of seven enlisted men, about two medical events would be expected during a 6-mo mission and result in about 1 d of limited or no duty per medical event.
Thomas
Terry L
TL
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Garland
Frank C
FC
Molé
Dale
D
Cohen
Bruce A
BA
Gudewicz
Thomas M
TM
Spiro
R Timothy
RT
Zahm
Shelia Hoar
SH
D000328:Adult; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012767:Ships; D012934:Social Isolation; D013026:Space Flight