Health of a team competing in the 1990 World Solar Car Challenge

The health of a team participating in the 1990 World Solar Car Challenge was recorded for 10 of the 11 race days. Morbidity was collected during daily consultations with the team doctor and the diagnoses were later converted to the ICPC code. Team members' self-perceived health status was also recorded daily, using the Nottingham Health Profile. Team drivers consulted the doctor more often than the support staff and the three full-time drivers had significantly more diagnoses than the support staff. The Nottingham Health Profile scores on sleep, energy and emotional reactions showed correlations between higher minimum temperatures and sleep for all team members and for the three full-time drivers, there were significant correlations between increasing maximum temperatures and emotional reaction scores. The morbidity records and perceived health scores reflect the conditions of the race. Twenty-five per cent of full-time driver consultations dealt with skin, eyelid or finger infections probably caused by the lack of washing water. The scores on sleep and emotional reactions were affected by temperature and previous research reports degradation in concentration and dual tasks with increasing temperature. This may account for the difficulty some drivers had in continuing their shifts. Close supervision of the drivers and the recording of their perceived health status helped reduce the health problems of the team.