Patterns of injury amongst cruise ship passengers requiring hospitalisation

Abstract

Background: The number of commercial cruise ship passengers continues to rise and is projected to reach 27.2 million passengers worldwide in 2018. Accidental injury aboard these ships can result in serious morbidity and mortality. This study examines the injury mechanisms, patterns, demographics, and outcomes of these injuries which are serious enough to require hospitalisation in order to facilitate administrative, financial, and medical decision making to aid in injury prevention and treatment. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional, retrospective, registry-based study of adult patients sustaining injury while on a cruise ship admitted to a Level I Trauma Centre in the United States over a 2-year period. Data on demographics, injury type and severity, surgical management, hospital charges, length of stay, mortality, and discharge disposition were recorded. Results: Sixty seven patients were identified and included in the analysis. 70.1% of patients were 65 or older and a majority were female (59.7%). The most common mechanism of injury was a ground level fall (79.1%), and the most common injury encountered was a femur fracture (52.2%) which involved the acetabulo-femoral joint in 85.7% of cases. Traumatic brain injuries were uncommon occurring in 7.5% of cases. There were no fatalities in this series. Conclusions: The most common injuries aboard cruise ships requiring hospitalisation occur in the geriatric population as a result of a ground level fall. Most commonly, the injuries are long bone fractures, with femur fractures occurring most frequently and accounting for over half of all injuries sustained. Resources and protocols for pre-hospital management of cruise ship injuries should prioritise these patients, and fall prevention measures for this demographic should be mandatory aboard all cruise ships.

Suicide, fatal injuries and drowning among the crews of United Kingdom and Bermuda registered cruise and passenger ships from 1976 to 2018

“…90 (64%) of the 140 deceased were British. The remainder were other European (16), Asian (22), other nationalities (7) or unspecified nationality (5). The deceased were employed in the deck (39), engine (25) and customer service (86) departments.…”

“…In recent years, several studies have reported on mortality in passengers who have sailed in cruise ships and/or other types of passenger vessels [1,2]. Many other studies have reported on morbidity in cruise ship passengers, including injuries [3][4][5], various communicable diseases including gastroenteritis and influenza [3,[6][7][8][9][10], and acute cardiovascular diseases [11]. Little has been reported on mortality and its causes among crew members who serve on board cruise or passenger ships.…”

Ambulance Use by International Travelers in Japan: A Retrospective Descriptive Study

“…8 The locality of Mount Fuji is popular for mountain trekking or hiking, so altitude sickness and lower limb injury are common. By contrast, the most common injury on cruise ship travel has been reported to be lower limb fracture, 9 indicating that injury type reflects the tourist location and typical activities. 1 July and August reflects the main open period of trekking in Mount Fuji, so it was not surprising that access to emergency services increased at this time.…”

Insights into needs of business travelers to China from calls to a medical assistance provider

“…Fatal injuries while traveling are mostly caused by accidents, drowning and homicide, whereas no deadly injuries are often due to traffic accidents, falls and leisure activities [16, 21, 22, 23]. Data on Finnish travelers (leisure and business travelers) with health problems abroad during 2010–2012 supported by another assistance medicine provider could show, that infections were the most common health problem accounting for 60% of all cases, whereas injuries accounted for 14.0% of all calls for service, 17.1% of these injuries were fractures [24].…”