Evidence Supporting the Management of Medical Conditions During Long-Duration Spaceflight: Protocol for a Scoping...

Area of Science:

• Space medicine
• Astronaut health
• Medical autonomy

Background:

• Long-duration space missions necessitate increased medical autonomy due to communication delays and inability for emergency returns.
• Crew selection and preparedness are crucial for mitigating medical risks in space.
• A comprehensive, evidence-based medical condition database is being developed to support decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review of existing literature on managing medical conditions in space.
• To complement the Canadian Space Agency's medical condition database.
• To understand the depth and breadth of evidence for space medical management.

Main Methods:

• Adherence to Levac, Colquhoun, and O'Brien's 6-stage scoping review methodology.
• Prioritization of 10 critical medical conditions for review.
• Systematic literature searches across multiple scientific databases (e.g., Medline, Web of Science).
• Data charting and evidence-based summary generation following PRISMA extension for scoping reviews.

Main Results:

• Stage 1 of the review, including research question finalization and initial database searches, is complete.
• The initial search yielded 10,403 citations for review.
• Completion of stages 2-6 is anticipated by early 2021.

Conclusions:

• The review will provide a comprehensive map of the literature for 10 priority medical conditions in space.
• Identification of knowledge gaps will inform future research priorities.
• Findings will contribute to ensuring medically safe and successful space exploration missions.