Anatomy of a World Cruise

Background And Method: We registered the patient-related activities of a large cruise ship's medical center during a 103-day worldwide voyage and compared data from 694 passengers (53% women) with median age 66 years with data from 540 crew (27% women) with median age 30 years of age.

Results: The medical staff had 3033 (1537 crew, 1496 passenger) consultations (=206 consultations per week) and performed 982 diagnostic procedures. Skin disorders dominated in the crew and were more frequent than in the passengers (29% versus 13%, p<.01), respiratory problems dominated in the passengers and were more frequent than in the crew (26% versus 17%, p<.01), while cardiovascular disorders were more common in the passengers (7% versus 1%, p<.01). Forty-six injuries (35 passengers, 11 crew) were recorded. One passenger died aboard. Seventy-six crew (14%) were not able to work for a total of 110 days (1.1 crew sick per day), while five crew were signed off for medical reasons.

Conclusions: To be a doctor or nurse on a large cruise ship during a long sea voyage is no vacation. The medical staff should expect a varied general practice with a higher consultation frequency rate than shoreside, even higher in crew