TY - JOUR T1 - Sickness pattern among air travellers: review of 735 cases at the Oman airport. A1 - Singh,Bhupi, PY - 2002/7/26/pubmed PY - 2003/1/8/medline PY - 2002/7/26/entrez SP - 684 EP - 7 JF - Aviation, space, and environmental medicine JO - Aviat Space Environ Med VL - 73 IS - 7 N2 - METHODS: The medical records of air travellers (passengers and crew) seeking emergency medical assistance at the Airport Emergency Clinic, Seeb International Airport, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, during a 1-yr period were analyzed to determine the sickness pattern among them. RESULTS: The study revealed that 67% of the passengers seeking medical assistance were aged between 21 and 45 yr, and the majority (63.8%) was male. Upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), gastrointestinal (GI) conditions, injuries (sustained during journey), and otitic barotrauma/baro-otalgia accounted for more than half (51.9%) of the cases. The most common type of injury among passengers was cuts and bruises in the scalp area, but most injuries (34.7%) occurred on airport premises, not as the result of baggage falling in-flight. Lack of aerobridges is responsible for significant number of lower limb injuries to passengers. Such data highlight the need for an injury-free environment in the airports. Barotrauma was the most common cause of aircrew unfitness to continue the flight, and usually resulted in a forced layover for the concerned aircrew. CONCLUSIONS: The data may be useful for planning and developing medical facilities at commercial airports. Need for a safe, non-injurious environment at the airports is highlighted. SN - 0095-6562 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/12137106/Sickness_pattern_among_air_travellers:_review_of_735_cases_at_the_Oman_airport_ L2 - https://medlineplus.gov/emergencymedicalservices.html DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -