Non-cancer diseases requiring admission to hospital among German seafarers

This study estimated the discharge diagnosis due to non-cancer diseases of German seamen employed on German vessels in comparison to the general German male population.

In a database, the German health insurance company for seafarers determined the discharge diagnoses from hospital for all German seafarers. In the time period from January 1997 to December 2007, this database encompassed on average more than 21,000 German seamen per year. It served as a source for comparison with the official national database on discharge diagnoses from the general German population. Thus, the standardised hospitalisation ratio (SHR) could be calculated.

During the above mentioned time period, the most prominent non-cancer diagnoses among seafarers were diseases of the circulatory system, diseases of the digestive system, diseases of the musculoskeletal system, as well as injury and poisoning. Compared to the reference population, decreased SHRs were observed for almost all examined diseases with the exception of asbestosis (SHR: 1.79; 95% CI 0.65-3.90). In contrast to the deck and engine room crew, the galley staff demonstrated an increased SHR for almost all examined diseases, particularly for lifestyle-related diseases.

Although the presented data are likely biased by the healthy worker effect and by underreporting due to treatment on board or abroad, an elevated SHR for (lifestyle-related) diseases was observed in the galley staff. Therefore, especially this occupational group seems to need specific advice on healthy behaviours both on board and ashore.