Yale University’s Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program in collaboration with Future Care, Inc., have reported the initial results of a pilot study on the health of seafarers internationally, initiated in March 2012.

The study focused on injury and acute illness in seamen, documenting 6,724 cases of illness and injury over a span of four years.

The results were analyzed based on a number of variables, including age, rank, nationality and type of illness/injury. Average costs per case and type of medical incident were also presented along with statistics on resource utilization and type of medical care rendered.

Among the findings presented, the following are of particular interest: Illness and dental claims comprised 66.7% of the total. Illness claims alone, as distinguished from injury claims, accounted for almost half of all medical events (49.8%) with an associated direct cost of $18.5 million, 56.4% of the total direct costs of $32.8 million. Cardiovascular disease, while accounting for only 4.1% of claims, had an associated direct cost of $5.7 million (17.3% of total direct costs.) With regard to point of service, hospital admissions accounted for only 2.4% of all medical encounters, but 56.8% of all medical expenses.

Future Care lists Carnival Cruise Lines among its clients, in addition to a number of large cargo carriers.