Тhe structure of morbidity of fishermen working in different geographical regions

INTRODUCTION: The existing multiple factors of the ship’s environment, together with the climatic conditions of navigation, have a long and complex effect on the body of seamen. As a result, they often cause significant changes in the body. In turn, such changes can cause the emergence and development of many diseases.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the morbidity of trawl fleet fishermen working in different climatic regions, possible factors contributing to the occurrence of diseases, to develop recommendations for reducing diseases with disability of workers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The morbidity of fishermen of the Arkhangelsk trawl fleet for the same period when working in the fishery in different climatogeographic regions was studied. 464 people of 4 crews of large freezing fishing trawlers aged 25–49 years (average age 41.8±9.5 years) and work experience from 3 to 10 years were under monitoring. The fishing area is the Norwegian Sea (northern climate zone, crew 237 people) and the Moorish Economic Zone (southern region, crew 217 people). The duration of the works ranged from 168 to 185 days. 10 voyage reports from on-board logbooks (5 times in each of the climatic regions) were used as sources of information on morbidity. Statistics: The McNemar criterion was used for comparative analysis between frequency indicators, and the MannWhitney criterion was used for absolute averages. The statistical significance level p<0.05 was regarded as proven statistically significant differences between the compared indicators.

RESULTS: The morbidity of seafarers, according to the initial appeals, had statistically significant differences when working in different climatogeographic regions. The frequency of cases of temporary disability for people working in tropical regions turned out to be much higher in comparison with the northern ones. At the same time, the average duration of the disease in the absolute majority of nosological forms (except for skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases) had no statistically significant differences between the groups of sailors.

DISCUSSION: Territorial features of fishing produce the characteristic of morbidity. Among them, the greatest contribution to the occurrence of diseases are frequent international contacts, peculiarities of processing of harvested fish, tension of adaptation mechanisms due to work in unusual conditions combined with hard work. The identified causes of morbidity among trawl fleet fishermen require the development of special measures to level them, prevent the development of chronic diseases.

CONCLUSION: Is made about the need for constant monitoring of seafarers to determine adaptive changes during the voyage period and during the readaptation of the crew to coastal conditions. Within the framework of the medical support system for water transport workers, it is necessary to take into account the adverse factors of the professional environment in order to create high-quality and safe working conditions.