A cross-sectional study of pre-travel health-seeking practices among travelers departing Sydney and Bangkok airports

Abstract

BackgroundPre-travel health assessments aim to promote risk reduction through preventive measures and safe behavior, including ensuring travelers are up-to-date with their immunizations. However, studies assessing pre-travel health-seeking practices from a variety of medical and non-medical sources and vaccine uptake prior to travel to both developing and developed countries within the Asia-Pacific region are scarce.MethodsCross-sectional surveys were conducted between July and December 2007 to assess pre-travel health seeking practices, including advice from health professionals, health information from other sources and vaccine uptake, in a sample of travelers departing Sydney and Bangkok airports. A two-stage cluster sampling technique was used to ensure representativeness of travelers and travel destinations. Pre-travel health seeking practices were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire distributed at the check-in queues of departing flights. Logistic regression models were used to identify significant factors associated with seeking pre-travel health advice from a health professional, reported separately for Australian residents, residents of other Western countries and residents of countries in Asia.ResultsA total of 843 surveys were included in the final sample (Sydney 729, response rate 56%; Bangkok 114, response rate 60%). Overall, pre-travel health information from any source was sought by 415 (49%) respondents with 298 (35%) seeking pre-travel advice from a health professional, the majority through general practice. Receipt of a pre-travel vaccine was reported by 100 (12%) respondents. Significant factors associated with seeking pre-travel health advice from a health professional differed by region of residence. Asian travelers were less likely to report seeking pre-travel health advice and uptake of pre-travel vaccines than Australian or other Western travelers. Migrant Australians were less likely to report seeking pre-travel health advice than Australian-born travelers.ConclusionsThis study highlights differences in health-seeking practices including the uptake of pre-travel health advice by region of residence and country of birth. There is a public health need to identify strategies targeting these travel groups. This includes the promotion of affordable and accessible travel clinics in low resource countries as traveler numbers increase and travel health promotion targeting migrant groups in high resource countries. General practitioners should play a central role. Determining the most appropriate strategies for increasing pre-travel health preparation, particularly for vaccine preventable diseases in travelers is the next stage in advancing travel medicine research.

A cross-sectional study on the knowledge and practice of travel vaccination and malaria prophylaxis for international travel among resident doctors of Ahmedabad city, Gujarat

“…[1] The practice of travel vaccination in this study was found to be very low which was similar to the findings of an Australian and Bangkok study but different from Greek and Nigerian studies where the practice of travel vaccination was found to be high. [1,2,13,14] Reasons of low practice in this study were not required for country of vaccination followed by non-awareness, while in other studies, the reasons were paucity of information on travel vaccination, distressing protocols and requirement for the vaccination, cost of vaccination as well as poor monitoring system for ensuring travel vaccination at the entry and exit points of the countries, unaware of being at risk, low knowledge of vaccination being important for traveling, cost of the vaccination, and side effects. [1,10,14] The knowledge about travel vaccination and malaria prophylaxis was found to be good in this study which was similar to the results of other studies.…”

Travel-Related Parasitic Infections in Travellers to Southeast Asia and Western Pacific Countries

“…Seyahat edenler ül-kelerine dönerken buralarda edindikleri patojenleri de taşıyabil-mekte ve bulaşıcı hastalıkların küresel yayılımına neden olabilmektedirler (8,9). Buna en belirgin örneklerden biri 2003 yılında Çin'de başlayıp Kanada, ABD, farklı Avrupa ve Asya ülkelerine yayılan SARS-Coronavirus'un neden olduğu ölümcül solunum yolları enfeksiyonu olan SARS'dır (SARS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) (7).…”

“…Bulaşıcı hastalıklar yönünden kontrol altında olan bir ülke için seyahat, belki de tek risk faktörüdür (8). Gelişmekte olan ülke-leri ziyaret edenlerin yarısından fazlasının hasta olduğu, %8'inin de medikal desteğe ihtiyaç duyduğu bildirilmiştir (11).…”

“…Bu risklere karşı seyahat başlamadan önce gidilecek ülkenin enfeksiyon riskleri, enfeksiyonların lokal prevalansı ve seyahat edecek kişinin yaşı/cinsiyeti, bağışıklık durumu ve seyahat planı/süresinin göz-den geçirilmesi gerekmektedir (12). Buna ilave olarak, seyahat öncesi sağlık danışmanlığı hizmeti almak ve belirlenen aşı, sıtma profilaksisi gibi uygun seyahat öncesi sağlık hizmetlerinden yararlanmak seyahat sırasında hastalık riskini azaltmaktadır (8,13). …”

Application of emporiatrics in minimizing travelers’ health risks

“…Clinicians and private medical practitioners should be made acquainted with the travel medicine/diseases which may occur in patients with a history of foreign travel so that they should be aware of the risks when treating them. 8 To conclude, in order to avoid any deviation from healthy status, every traveler has to be proactive. Emporiatrics will have an important role in future years not only in identifying new risks but also in establishing new methods of therapy and prophylaxis for the travelers' benefit.…”