Prevalence and Level of Motion Sickness among the General Public of Mangaluru

Mr. Jaison Jacob¹, Mrs. Patsey S. Castelino²

¹Assistant Professor, Department of Mental Health Nursing, Laxmi Memorial College of Nursing, Mangaluru, Karnataka. India.

²Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatric Nursing, Laxmi Memorial College of Nursing, Mangaluru, Karnataka. India.

*Corresponding Author Email: nov8525@gmail.com, pcastelino44@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:

Background: Motion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system’s sense of movement. It is an ancient problem, having afflicted humans for thousands of years. Nearly all people experience motion sickness if given strong enough motion stimuli. Its basis is largely unknown but is believed to be caused by a combination of inner ear disturbances and over-stimulation of the optic nerve due to either real or apparent movement. In our environment, paucity of knowledge abounds on this condition regarding its prevalence and susceptibility as very little or no studies have been carried out on the subject. This influenced the inception of the study. Objective: 1.To determines the prevalence of motion sickness among the general public. 2. To assess the level of motion sickness among the general public. Methods: A descriptive survey approach was used for the study. Three hundred and forty nine samples participated in the study and were selected through purposive sampling technique. Data was collected using a demographic proforma and Motion Sickness Assessment Questionnaire (MSAQ). Results: Majority (60.8%) of the participants were females. Highest percentage (38.2%) travelled by road for a distance of more than 50 kilometers up to 10 times in a year. Least percentage (10%) suffered from migraine. Highest percentage (39.4%) had any of their family members suffering from motion sickness. Prevalence of motion sickness was found to be 42.9%. Among the participants who had motion sickness majority (49.29 %) had gastrointestinal related symptoms, followed by peripheral symptoms (43.5%), sopite related was 34.4 % and least symptoms were seen in cardiac (28.3%).

KEYWORDS: Prevalence; Level; Motion sickness; Susceptibility; General public

INTRODUCTION:

Whenever we give up our status as self-propelled animals, and step on board some vehicle or device that transports us passively, we incur the risk of motion sickness. This incapacitating condition has always been closely linked with man’s technological effort to improve and extend his natural power of locomotion.¹ Motion sickness is a common condition, with about 30% of the general population suffering some kind of symptoms during a voyage and 5% suffering heavily.²

A descriptive survey was conducted to assess the incidence among civilian means of transportation in London. A structured questionnaire was adopted among 300 undergraduate students which revealed that sea travel produced the greatest incidence among civilian means of transportation. Ninety percentages of the respondents had a positive history of motion sickness. It was also found that 57.7% had experienced some nausea due to car travel and 32.8% had vomited on cars before the age of twelve. During the period of adolescence (12-20year) 47.3% of these students had nauseated in car and 14% had actually vomited.¹

The motion sickness syndrome has cardinal signs and symptoms of nausea, vomiting, pallor and cold sweating and minor signs and symptoms (which vary between individuals and depends on the eliciting circumstances) of sighing, yawning, hyperventilation, flatulence, headache, loss of body weight, drowsiness fatigue and social indifference. Nausea is the most commonly reported symptom of motion sickness. This is a profoundly unpleasant subjective experience relating to the epigastric region, increased salivation, swallowing and heralding the approach of frank vomiting. The appearance of nausea on healthy unadapted subjects seems inevitable; given the right degree of stimulation.³ It is unique among the illnesses that afflict man because it is not a “sickness” in the strictest sense of the word. It is a functional disorder of an intact, healthy individual which occurs in the absence of any pathogenic agency or structural damage to the body. It is the absence rather than the presence of symptoms of motion sickness that is indicative of a real pathology, since it does not occur in those who lack a normally functioning vestibular system.⁴

Most people have experienced this disorder at some time in their lives, more often in their childhood. However, there are some to whom it continues to be a very frequent misfortune.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Design:

Descriptive survey design

Setting:

The study was conducted in urban and rural areas of Mangaluru

Population:

General public in the age group of 13-60 years residing in Mangaluru.

Sample size:

349

Sampling technique:

Purposive sampling

Instruments used:

· Demographic proforma

· Motion Sickness Assessment Questionnaire (MSAQ).

Description of the instrument:

The first section contained 4 items for obtaining baseline information regarding their gender, frequency of travelling more than 50 kilometers by road in a year, presence of any health problems like migraine and vertigo and any of the family members of the participants suffering from motion sickness. A standardized 9 point rating scale (Motion Sickness Assessment Questionnaire) was used to assess the level of motion sickness. There were 16 items in the tool, out of which items 1,5,11,15 were related to GI symptoms; 2,6,9,13,14 to central; items 4,8,12 peripheral and items 3,7,10,16 were sopite related. Total scores from the MSAQ correlated strongly with overall scores from the Pensacola Diagnostic Index (r=0.81, p<0.001) and the Nausea Profile (r=0.92, p<0.001).

Data collection method:

Prior to data collection, permission was obtained from the concerned authority for conducting the study. Subjects were selected according to the selection criteria. Average time taken by the participants to answer the tool was 10 minutes.

RESULTS:

Section A: Description of demographic variables of the general public

· Majority (60.8%) of the participants were females.

· Highest percentage (38.2%) travelled by road for a distance of more than 50 kilometeres up to 10 times in a year.

· Least percentage (10%) suffered from migraine.

· Highest percentage (39.4%) had any of their family members suffering from motion sickness.

Section B: Description of the prevalence and level of motion sickness among the general public

Data presented in table 1 shows the prevalence and level of motion sickness among the general public.

Table 1: Prevalence and level of motion sickness among the general public N=349

Level of motion sickness	Frequency	Percentage (%)
No sickness (<25%)	199	57.2
Mild (26-50%)	101	28.9
Moderate (51-75%)	39	11.1
Severe (>75%)	10	2.8
Total	349	100

Data presented in table 1 shows that 57.2% of the general public had no motion sickness, 28.9% had mild, 11.1% had moderate and 2.8% had severe motion sickness. Hence the prevalence of motion sickness among the general public was found to be 42.9%.

Figure 1: Cylindrical diagram showing subscale wise level of motion sickness among the general public

Data presented in figure 1 depicts that among the participants who had motion sickness majority (49.29 %) had gastrointestinal related symptoms, followed by peripheral symptoms (43.5%), sopite related was 34.4 % and least symptoms were seen in cardiac (28.3%).

DISCUSSION:

In this study, 57.2% of the general public had no motion sickness, 28.9% had mild, 11.1% had moderate and 2.8% had severe motion sickness. Hence the prevalence of motion sickness among the general public was found to be 42.9%.

This was supported by a study that was conducted to determine the prevalence of motion sickness among 831 school children aged 7-12 years in Brazil. The prevalence of motion sickness was 43.4 % in car, 43.2 % on bus, 11.7 % on park swing, and 11.6 % on Ferris wheel.⁵

The present study also revealed that among the participants who had motion sickness majority (49.29 %) had gastrointestinal related symptoms, followed by peripheral symptoms (43.5%), sopite related was 34.4 % and least symptoms were seen in cardiac (28.3%).

This was supported by a cross sectional descriptive study that was conducted among three hundred and eighty five undergraduates travelling by road from Enugu town to other Nigerian cities, which was aimed to assess the degree of awareness, prevalence and susceptibility to motion sickness. The research showed that among the male respondent 4.5%, 3.2%, 5.3% and 5.7% experienced the cardinal signs of nausea, cold sweating, dizziness and headache respectively for five times or more, while 9.8% vomited once or more while aboard a vehicle for the past one year. Among the females, 2.8%, 3.5%,7.0%, and 7.7% experienced the symptoms respectively, but 12.6% of them vomited once or more. In general, 10.9% of the total respondents vomited once or more while aboard a vehicle.⁶

RECOMMENDATIONS:

· A similar study can be conducted on a larger sample

· A similar study can be conducted to identify the aggravating and alleviating factors of motion sickness

· Susceptibility to motion sickness can be assessed among the general public

CONCLUSION:

Motion sickness, though a normal physiological response, is common and its manifestations can be limiting, ranging from subtle bodily changes to frank physiological destabilizations, all of which might result in avoidance of travelling, travelling phobias with its attendant consequences. In fact, nearly anyone can be made motion sick by an appropriate mobility stimulus, except for individuals with no vestibular system. Unfortunately, this condition has existed unnoticed in our environment and has not been accorded the publicity it deserves. A more broad and multi-centered study should be done on the subject in order to obtain a more reliable and generalizable result.

REFERENCES:

1. Reason JT, Braud JJ. Motion sickness. 1^st edition. London: Academic Press Inc (London) Ltd, 2007.

2. Graudins LV. Preventing motion sickness in children. Aust Prescr. 2009; 32:61-3.

3. James R. Lackner JR, Space Motion sickness. Exp Brain Res. Nov 2006; 175: 377-99.

4. Rainford DJ, Gradwell DP. Ernsting’s Aviation Medicine. 4^th edition. USA: CRC press; 2006.

5. Henriques IF, Douglas de Oliveira DW, Oliveira-Ferreira F, Andrade PM. Motion sickness prevalence in school children. Eur J Pediatr. 2014; 173 (11): 1473-82.

6. MEDRHUS. Awareness, prevalence and susceptibility of motion sickness among university students travelling by road from Enugu town to other Nigerian cities. Nigeria: Medical Research and Humanitarian Society: 2011.

Received on 31.03.2017 Modified on 10.07.2017

Asian J. Nur. Edu. and Research.2017; 7(4): 583-585.

DOI: 10.5958/2349-2996.2017.00113.6