378 



MOTION SICKNESS, I 



sickness (59). A more recent report on the 

 subject indicates that flying personnel in 

 general have a two percent rate of disquali- 

 fication because of airsickness (49). About 

 six percent of naval pilot trainees were re- 

 ported to have sufficient airsickness during 

 training to constitute a problem (118). 

 While this summary is not comprehensive 

 nor does it establish rates to be expected for 

 latest types of plane design, it does indicate 

 clearly that motion sickness is a significant 

 problem in the air services. 



Sea- and Air-Borne Troops 



Air- and sea-borne troops are a special case 

 of the problem of motion sickness since these 

 personnel are for the most part land based 

 until they are transported to areas where 

 they may need to engage in immediate action. 

 They thus lack whatever adaptation to mo- 

 tion sickness may be acquired by regular 

 exposure to the motion of the transporting 

 craft. While there are no data on the num- 

 ber of men disqualified for this type of duty, 

 an estimate might be made from the number 

 of men incapacitated during any single 

 operation. During one airborne infantry 

 maneuver in mild weather, 9.8 percent were 

 airsick; of these three percent were unable 

 to carry out their duties (72). 



Incidence of Motion Sickness 



The incidence of motion sickness varies 

 considerably from day to day due to varia- 

 tion in the roughness of the sea or air. To 

 be definitive about the incidence of motion 

 sickness, therefore, it would be necessary 

 to describe in detail the circumstances under 

 which the particular incidence was observed. 

 In the case of seasickness, it would be per- 

 tinent to have such information as: the con- 

 dition of the seaway, the size and type of 

 ship, position and activity of personnel while 

 underway, and selection of personnel. 



A large factor in determining the mag- 

 nitude of a reported incidence of motion 

 sickness is the original informant. The 

 incidence is higher when the individuals 



themselves are the informants than when 

 the ranking non-commissioned or petty ofli- 

 cer reports. It is still lower if the division 

 (Navy) or company (Army) officer reports 

 and lowest if the medical officer reports. 

 The medical officer tallies only those cases 

 who report to the medical department for 

 treatment, in general, those men most 

 seriously affected. Since, in the past, there 

 were no effective remedies available to the 

 medical officer, it was common knowledge 

 among military personnel that going to 

 the medical department did little good. 

 Hence, usually only new personnel went 

 to the medical officer for treatment of 

 motion sickness. 



Seasickness 



Seasickness on landing craft (LCVPS) en- 

 gaged in amphibious training was reported 

 by Tyler (111) to be high even in relatively 

 smooth seas. His large-scale studies in- 

 volved over 15,000 men. An overall inci- 

 dence of 35 percent seasickness in untreated 

 personnel was noted; 13 percent were 

 severely seasick, i.e., had severe nausea with 

 or without vomiting. On individual test 

 runs the incidence of seasickness went as 

 high as 53 percent. 



An incidence of 16 percent seasickness in 

 troops on assault craft was observed in calm 

 seas (51), and rose as high as 51 percent in 

 soldiers taken to sea in rough weather (1). 

 In the latter case, 45 percent of the men 

 observed vomited. 



Airsickness 



Glider personnel apparently suffer a high 

 incidence of airsickness. On different flights 

 it ranged from 30-70 percent among RAAF 

 glider personnel, as opposed to 15-30 per 

 cent of flight training personnel in the RCAF 

 (79). 



On glider trips of less than one hour, an 

 incidence of 30-50 percent has been reported 

 "moderately bumpy" trips (67). 



Airborne troops in the United States had 

 an observed incidence of 27 percent on long 



