Self-evaluation of Health State in Chinese Navy of Different Fleets

Abstract

Objective: To clarify physical and psychological health state and potential medical need of Chinese navy. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in the total of 438 personnel of two fleets in different latitudes in China by self-reported questionnaire. The physical and psychological states were investigated and the potential medical needs were explored.Results: The top was muscle and skeletal system disease, affecting to 59% of the population, followed by respiratory disease, skin disease, oral disease, et al. The frequency of oral disease increased gradually, with the first peak at 26-30 years old. Ophthalmic and Ear-nose-throat diseases increased rapidly over 40 years old. The frequencies of above diseases were higher in submarine of Fleet B than that of Fleet A (P<0.05). In Fleet A, the frequencies of influenza and diarrhea in submarine were higher than those in surface fleet (P<0.001). The corps with low psychological self-evaluation suffered more diseases than those with high evaluation (P=0.04). Conclusions: Fleets in different latitudes exhibited different disease frequencies. Submarine force was more susceptible to infectious disease than surface fleet possibly due to the closed environment. High effective medical care should be given according to the age threshold of 25 and 40.