The incidence and effects of motion sickness among medical attendants during transport.

Motion sickness is a common and often debilitating problem. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and effects of the motion sickness syndromes, the Nausea and Sopite Syndromes, among medical transport personnel. Members of the Transport Teams of the University of North Carolina Hospitals completed a questionnaire to identify a history of susceptibility to motion sickness. An additional questionnaire evaluated each individual for symptoms of motion sickness during transport. The Digit Span Test portion of the Mini-Mental Status Examination (DST-MMSE) was used to evaluate cognitive function after transport. Control data on each subject were obtained by testing during nontransport shifts. The Nausea Syndrome was observed during transport in 46% of subjects; 65% experienced symptoms consistent with the Sopite Syndrome. Pretransport surveys were predictive of the Nausea Syndrome, but not of the Sopite Syndrome. The Nausea Syndrome was related to subjective assessments of the severity of motion experienced; the Sopite Syndrome did not correlate with the severity of motion. The DST-MMSE scores after transport were significantly lower than scores during nontransport periods in 85% of personnel. We conclude that transport personnel are susceptible to motion sickness manifested by both the Nausea Syndrome and the Sopite Syndrome. The presence of motion sickness is associated with a significant decline in performance on tests of attention and concentration.