Long-term neuropsychological effects in non-saturation construction divers

Background: Since the early 1980s, there has been much debate about whether shallow water diving may lead to long-term adverse effects on the nervous system. Hypothesis: The aim of the study was to investigate possible neurop sychological effects from repeated diving in divers without overt neurologi cal insult. Methods: Twenty construction divers recruited from two companie s of contractors were tested with a neuropsychological test battery in a cr oss-sectional study. The divers were on average 40 (range 24-54) yr old. Th ey had worked as divers for an average of 18 (range 5-33) yr. Their mean di ving experience was more than 4000 (range 450-13200) dives. A group of youn ger trainees at a diving school and a group of age-matched construction wor kers were recruited as controls. Results: The construction divers did not s how clinical signs of mental impairment. However, their neuropsychological test results indicated slight effects in the form of longer reaction time. Conclusions: The main finding in this study of non-saturation construction divers was that there was no clear evidence of neuropsychological deficit d ue to extensive diving experience. However, it is suggested that the prolon ged reaction time can be ascribed to extensive non-saturation diving.