DECOMPRESSION ILLNESS AND DIVING PATTERN AMONGST FILIPINO FISHERMEN

Abstract

1787 The popularity of scuba diving is rapidly increasing, but present knowledge of diving diseases, specifically decompression illness (DCI), is inadequate. The wide spread occurence of incidents complicates the study of diving illnesses. Therefore we conducted a study to ascertain the incidence of DCI amongst Filipino fishermen, to analyse their actual diving pattern and to compare these findings, as a potential model for high risk diving, with recommended recreational and professional diving practices and incidences. We subjected 88 divers to a standardized interview. 92% of them had experienced various symptoms of DCI several times. Neurological and musculoskeletal manifestations were most common (p < 0.001). 37 cases of serious neurological DCI were discovered. Thirty divers participated in recording of 83 dive profile using dive computers. They dived to an average depth of 26.0± 7.7 m for 53.5 ± 18.0 min duration, three times a day. None of the dives were performed in accordance with decompression procedures. In seven recorded dives (8.4%) symptoms of DCI were witnessed. The population studied presents a well defined diving group suffering from DCI on a regular basis due to their chosen occupation. Our results suggest that the fishermen's extreme diving pattern is the main contributing factor to the discovered high incidence of DCI. This pattern can be considered as a comparison model for high risk dive profiles amongst recreational divers.