Analysis of the disease spectrum of a certain large surface ship during a long oceangoing mission

Objective To study the features and regularity of the diseases occurred among the officers and sailors of a certain large surface ship during a long oceangoing mission, and to provide some targeted preventive measures for improving the medical support in long oceangoing mission in future. Methods A retrospective survey was conducted on the medical records of outpatient, emergence, and onboard medical inspection by classifying all the cases into different medical disciplines, to analyze the features of disease distribution and regularity among the crew members during a long oceangoing mission. Results There were 673 case/times were included into this analysis from the 81-day-long 549-people-participation oceangoing mission. The top 3 disorders involved in the respiratory system, the motor system (trauma), and the digestive system, accounting for 70.58% of the total cases. Among them, the upper respiratory tract infection, hand injury, and oral ulcer accounted for 21.86%, 5.65%, and 5.28% of the disease spectrum respectively. The incidence of diseases requiring surgery and further medical care was relatively higher (24.59%), especially trauma and infectious diseases as the prevalent disorders, concentrating on the motor system and digestive system. Conclusion The disease spectrum during the long oceangoing was related with the onboard living environment, individual body constitution, individual history of long oceangoing deployment, and gender difference. With regard to disease control, the efforts should be devoted to health education and disinfection of onboard environment, especially preventing infectious diseases. Personal health records and pre-warning of disease outbreak system should also be established if necessary. Meanwhile, the manning of medical team and the preparation of medical supplies should conform to the features and distribution regularity of diseases spectrum during a long oceangoing mission. Key words: Large surface ship; Long oceangoing mission; Medical service support; Disease spectrum