Hospital contacts due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and neoplasms among seafarers compared to farmers: a Danish register-based cohort study

Abstract

Background Seafaring has an occupational environment with many health risks. On the other hand, regular medical examinations are mandatory to get permission for working onboard. The present study examined incidence of neoplasms, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases among Danish seafarers compared with farmers, as a relevant land-based trade.Methods The participants were all seafarers or farmers aged 18-65 years at the baseline and residing in Denmark. Two cohorts with baselines in 2002 (n=56,216) and 2012 (n=42,000) were linked to records from Danish health registers. We calculated incident rates and the hazard ratios of hospital contacts using Cox regression models separately for men and women.Results In all disease categories, the risk for hospital contact was higher among male seafarers compared with male farmers. The adjusted hazard ratios for the 2012 cohort for neoplasms, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases were 1.36 (95% CI: 1.17 to 1.58), 1.16 (95% CI: 1.01 to 1.32), and 1.51 (95% CI: 1.28 to 1.78), respectively. Among female seafarers, the hazard ratio for the 2012 cohort for respiratory diseases was 1.58 (95% CI: 1.18 to 2.10), but for cardiovascular diseases 0.73 (95% CI: 0.54 to 0.99). Between the 2002 and 2012 cohort, the incident rates and differences decreased in cardiovascular diseases and increased in neoplasms and respiratory diseases, particularly in men.Conclusions Findings of this register-based cohort study suggest that, regardless of mandatory and regular medical examinations, seafaring is associated with a substantially increased risk of respiratory diseases in both sexes, and neoplasms and cardiovascular diseases among men.

Associations of age, occupation and nationality of seafarers with risk of evacuations at sea: A register-based study on Danish-flagged merchant ships

“…Seafarers have a highly elevated risk for injuries [1] and a higher risk of death from occupation related accidents than do workers ashore or the general population [2][3][4]. Some diseases, such as certain cancers [5], heart and lung diseases, and diseases of the digestive system [1,[6][7][8], are also common among seafarers.…”