Specialized Travel Consultation Part II: Acquiring Knowledge

Area of Science:

• Travel Medicine
• Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Increasing international travel necessitates improved traveler education on tropical diseases.
• Specialized travel clinics offer advice, but their impact on traveler knowledge and health remains unverified.
• Assessing the effectiveness of routine travel consultations is crucial for optimizing pre-travel health advice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a routine travel consultation service on travelers' knowledge of tropical diseases.
• To identify specific areas of knowledge improvement and areas needing further attention.
• To assess the efficacy of a 18-minute face-to-face consultation provided by trained staff.

Main Methods:

• A pre- and post-consultation questionnaire study involving 161 and 144 clients, respectively.
• Data analysis using Statistical Analytic System software, including Mann-Whitney and multiple regression procedures.
• Controlled for confounding factors using Mantel-Haenszel and General Linear Model procedures.

Main Results:

• Post-consultation scores showed a significant overall improvement in knowledge of travel-related diseases.
• Increased knowledge was primarily observed in malaria prevention and the perceived risk of cholera.
• Knowledge regarding the management of diarrhea and fever did not significantly improve post-consultation.

Conclusions:

• Face-to-face travel consultations are effective in enhancing traveler knowledge on specific tropical health risks.
• Inexperienced travelers and those from lower socioeconomic groups benefited most from the consultations.
• Further improvements are needed in providing comprehensive advice on managing common travel-related illnesses like diarrhea and fever.