Life Stress and Illness Patterns in the US Navy

Abstract

Approximately one third of the enlisted crew of an attack carrier (N = 738) was studied during a six-month deployment to Vietnam. Cruise activities, work conditions, and the illnesses developed by these men during the cruise were tabulated. This paper discusses the relationship of the environmental variables of ship’s activity and work (division) assignment to illness onset. The majority of illnesses occurred in a relatively small portion of the population; 29% of the men developed 75% of the illnesses. This distribution was similar to those found in other studies of military and working populations. The high incidences of dermatologicai, respiratory, and gastrointestinal illnesses were similar to those reported for other military enlisted populations. The rates for both overall illness and for most individual illness categories showed a consistent elevation during combat periods compared to in-port periods; an exception was the period of Sea of Japan operations surrounding the Pueblo crisis. Occupation appeared to be an important factor influencing illness incidence; illness rates were higher in those groups of men who performed physically demanding or hazardous tasks and who worked in hostile environments.