Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026
11:56
Training Rats to Voluntarily Dive Underwater: Investigations of the Mammalian Diving Response
Published on: November 12, 2014
12.1K
Mortality among professional divers in Norway.
Å Irgens1, K Troland, E Thorsen
1Department of Occupational Medicine, Norwegian Centre for Diving Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, NO5021 Bergen, Norway.
Occupational Medicine (Oxford, England)
|November 7, 2013
Summary
Norwegian professional divers have lower overall mortality than the general population. However, those with higher diving certificates face increased risks of death from work-related accidents and suicide.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Diving Medicine
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Diving is inherently risky due to the underwater environment, leading to potential accidents.
- Long-term health effects on divers include impacts on bone, central nervous system, and lungs, even without accidents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare overall and cause-specific mortality rates of Norwegian professional divers against the general population.
- To analyze mortality risks based on diving certificate class.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Norwegian Inshore Diving Registry (post-1980 certificates).
- Included 5,526 male divers (born 1950-1990), with 3,130 fully certified professionals.
- Compared mortality data with 1,604,147 male referents from the general population via the Cause of Death Registry.
Main Results:
- Overall mortality was 23/1000 for divers versus 24/1000 for referents (Hazard Ratio 0.79).
- Diving-related accidents and suicide were leading causes of death among divers.
- Higher-level diving certificate holders showed significantly higher rates of death from accidents and suicide.
Conclusions:
- Professional divers exhibit lower overall mortality compared to the general population.
- A notable increased risk of death from work-related accidents and suicide exists for professional divers.
- Diving certification level is associated with differential mortality risks, particularly for accidents and suicide.
Related Concept Videos
01:18Deep Sea Microbial Ecology
55
The deep ocean and its underlying sediments represent vast, largely unexplored microbial habitats that extend far beyond the sunlit photic zone. The photic (euphotic) zone typically spans the upper ~100–200 meters of pelagic waters in the open ocean, but its depth varies geographically and seasonally, where sufficient light supports photosynthetic life. Below this lies the deep sea, spanning roughly 1000–6000 meters (bathypelagic to abyssal zones), with deeper hadal trenches...
55
01:27Diversity of Protists III
2.1K
Rhizaria are a diverse group of unicellular protists characterized by their threadlike cytoplasmic extensions known as pseudopodia. These structures aid in both locomotion and feeding, giving Rhizaria an amoeboid appearance. Their amoeboid morphology once led to taxonomic confusion, but molecular phylogenetics has clarified their evolutionary placement and emphasized their shared use of pseudopodia despite divergent lineages.This clade comprises diverse lineages such as Chlorarachniophyta,...
2.1K
01:11Buoyancy and Stability for Submerged and Floating Bodies
3.6K
In fluid mechanics, buoyancy and stability are key concepts for understanding the behavior of submerged and floating bodies. When a stationary body is fully or partially submerged in a fluid, the fluid exerts a force on the body known as the buoyant force. This force acts vertically upward through a point called the center of buoyancy, which is the center of the displaced fluid volume. According to Archimedes' principle, the magnitude of the buoyant force is equal to the weight of the fluid...
3.6K