A Study of Sailor Psychiatric Inpatients: Focusing on the Transition in a General Hospital

Lee, Jeong Hwan; Kim, Joon Hong; Kim, Jeong Gee

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The object of this study was to help the clinicians understand the characteristics of the sailors who were admitted to the psychiatric ward through elucidating the transition in the psychiatric aspect of them.
METHODS
The results obtained from psychiatric records of 98 sailors who were admitted to department of psychiatry in a general hospital, from March 1, 1985 to Feb. 28, 1994 were compared with the results obtained from 34 sailor inpatients in the same hospital from March 1, 1982 to Feb. 28, 1985.
RESULTS
1) The number of sailor inpatients showed declining tendency and the age of them showed increasing tendency. 2) The number of patients of somatoform disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and organic mental disorder was increased. The number of patients of schizophrenia and mood disorder was decreased. 3) The proportion of inpatients from overseas fishing ship was increased markedly. We must ave a countplan and careful consideration f3r them. 4) We could infer that the groups of low education, crew, overseas fishing ship and below S year of employment duration had high admitted patient occurrence rate. The proportion of psychosis in the groups that were primitive school graduated and 1-5 year of employment duration was high relatively to neurosis(statistically not significant). 5) According to psychological test, the majority of sailor inpatients had constricted thought content, emphasis of responsibility for the family, submissive attitude to an authoritive figure and paranoid tendency. The MMFI profile of neurotic patients showed the tendency of finking bad.