Climate and health in the Royal Navy.

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In July, 1945, a new form of monthly sickness return was introduced in the Royal Navy. The return called for counts of those men who were on the sick list, i.e., incapacitated by sickness, and of those on the attending list, i.e., with minor ailments who only attended the sick bay for treatment. It was expected that the attending list figures might be more closely related to living conditions than those for more serious illness necessitating absence from duty. The first review of these returns (Roberts, 1948), covering the period August, 1945, to July, 1946, showed clearly the value of the attending list figures, and the sickness return was amended to require the inclusion of a record of the air temperature on the upper deck at noon. The next examination, covering the period from October, 1948, to September, 1949 (Ellis, Smith, and Underwood, 1952), showed the value of the records of air temperature. When the returns from all stations were grouped together it appeared that the percentage of a ship's company on the attending list increased as the weather became hotter, and especially when the upper deck temperature ex ceeded 80? F. It was not clear whether variations in the numbers on the attending list were in some measure due to factors other than climate, such as station, or class of ship, so it was decided to make a further examination when more returns had been amassed. In the present study, which covers the four years between October, 1948, and September, 1952, an examination has been made of the question whether the relation between minor sickness and climatic temperature is to be found in all classes of ship and on all foreign stations.