Seasickness and its impact on researchers' work on board French oceanographic vessels

Abstract

Background: Seasickness (SS) is an often hidden pathology, but one that can significantly disrupt work on board. The aim of the study is to evaluate the influence of SS on the workability of workers on board vessels. Materials and methods: We performed a cross-sectional questionnaire study conducted on 250 oceanographers in 2015 during 3 months. Based on the “Bos seasickness susceptibility questionnaire”, we created a specific questionnaire with 49 questions. Results: 151 men and 72 women responded to the survey. 188 of them (91.7% of women and 80.8% of men) report being seasick, either occasionally (69%) or at each boarding where there is female predominance (23.6% vs. 11.3% for men). The major symptoms are nausea (82%) and vomiting (56%). 60% of the workers think that SS has an influence on the success of their mission, by first affecting their mood (50%), relationship (23%), and increased risk of accidents such as falls, accidents on machines or in laboratories (40%). Antinaupathic treatments also produce deleterious effects on their workstation. Women have higher risk of developing SS (odds ratio [OR] 2.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03–6.6; p = 0.04), more frequently taking medicines when ill (OR 4.1; 95% CI 1.27–13.2; p = 0.004) and coming with her own tablets (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.3–4.1; p = 0.04). Conclusions: Gender is a trending factor of SS. Information on SS clinical signs, impact and therapeutics could be prone to prevent sickness and impact of it on workability.