Incidence of decompression illness in amateur scuba divers.

Abstract

This paper reports changes in the incidence and manifestations of decompression illness in amateur scuba divers in the United Kingdom (UK) between 1981 and 1993, a period during which the popularity of the sport increased. Since 1981, there has been a trend to increased annual incidence of decompression illness, but the large yearly fluctuations reflect a considerable annual variation in the numbers of dives. The need for recompression facilities to treat decompression illness in amateur scuba divers in the UK should take account of this greater public participation in the sport, and should also allow for large annual fluctuations related to meteorological and financial factors.