Poor Knowledge of Acute Mountain Sickness in Latin American Medical Students

Acute altitude exposure is a common event in Latin America that can result in mild to severe altitude illness. Medical students from some Latin American countries receive little information on this topic. Our aim was to determine the knowledge and incidence of acute mountain sickness (AMS), as well as the methods used to prevent AMS among medical students attending the Pan-American Student Meeting in Cusco, Peru, a city at high altitude (3400 m).

We conducted a cross-sectional study on medical students attending a conference. Participants completed a questionnaire on the day of registration that collected demographic data and investigated students' knowledge of AMS, its prophylaxis, and their personal experience of symptoms.

A total of 840 students attended the meeting. Two hundred eighty-eight returned surveys, 51 from high altitude locations. Respondent age was 23±3 y (mean±SD), and 72% were female. Thirty-two percent had basic knowledge about symptoms of AMS. Headache was recognized as a symptom by 79%. Knowledge of AMS prophylaxis was reported by 70%. Coca leaf products and dimenhydrinate were mentioned by 30 and 16%, respectively, whereas acetazolamide was recognized by only 10% of participants. AMS incidence was 42%. Prophylactic measures were adopted by 47% of the participants in our study. Thirty-six percent used dimenhydrinate and 27% used coca tea. Less than 1% used acetazolamide as recommended.

We found poor knowledge of AMS and effective prophylaxis among medical students from several South American countries traveling to 3400 m.