International Journal of Preventive Medicine Research
Articles Information
International Journal of Preventive Medicine Research, Vol.1, No.3, Aug. 2015, Pub. Date: Jul. 11, 2015
Travel Health, Gaps in Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among Dubai Travellers, Dubai, UAE
Pages: 126-131 Views: 3888 Downloads: 2139
Authors
[01] Fatima Omer, Dubai Health Authority, PHC, Preventive Services Centre, Travel Health Clinic, Dubai, UAE.
[02] Nehad Hassan, Dubai Health Authority, PHC, Preventive Services Centre, Travel Health Clinic, Dubai, UAE.
[03] Hamid Hussain, Dubai Health Authority, PHC, Preventive Services Centre, Travel Health Clinic, Dubai, UAE.
[04] Sami Mana, Dubai Health Authority, PHC, Preventive Services Centre, Travel Health Clinic, Dubai, UAE.
[05] Omer Awad, Dubai Health Authority, PHC, Preventive Services Centre, Travel Health Clinic, Dubai, UAE.
Abstract
Background: International travel can pose various risks to health, depending on the characteristics of both the traveller and the travel. Travellers may encounter sudden and significant changes in altitude, humidity, microbes, and temperature, which can result in ill health. In addition, serious health risks may arise in areas where accommodation is of poor quality, hygiene and sanitation are inadequate, medical services are not well developed and clean water is unavailable. Objective: to assess knowledge , attitude and practice towards travel health among Dubai’s travellers traveling abroad .Methods: A cross sectional survey was carried out in Jebel Ali Free zone‘s companies employees where on line self- administrated questionnaire has been distributed to the employees of randomly selected 20 companies. 162 responses were collected. Results: The study showed that only 22.8% of respondents had sought pre-travel health advice from travel clinic, 77.8% of respondents were less than 40 years old, and of (40.7%) of respondents planned their trips only one to 2 weeks before travel. The most frequently reported destinations were, Asia (30.2%), India (24.7%) followed by Africa which constitutes (16%).There was a good knowledge regarding importance of vaccination (96.2%), and malaria drug prophylaxis (83.4%), but there was a low attitudes towards vaccinations (55.6%). Conclusions: The result of this short study period provided a valuable insight into the knowledge , attitude and practice of the respondents with significant low awareness of pre-travel health advice as reflected by the low uptake of specialist travel medicine advice with regard to travel vaccinations and malaria Prophylaxis which highlighted an important educational need for Dubai travellers.
Keywords
Travel Health, Knowledge&Attitude, Dubai
References
[01] World Health Organization. International Travel and Health. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2012 [cited 2013 Jan. 25]. Available from: http://www.who.int/ith/en/.
[02] United Nations World Tourism Organization. UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, Vol. 10 (September). Madrid: United Nations World Tourism Organization; 2012 [cited 2012 Dec. 15]. Available from: http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/unwto_barom12_05_sept_excerpt.pdf.
[03] Hatz CFR, Chen LH. Pre-travel consultation. In: Keystone JS, Freedman DO, Kozarsky PE, Connor BA, Nothdurft HD, editors. Travel Medicine. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier; 2013: p 31–6.
[04] 2. Freedman DO, Weld LH, Kozarsky PE, Fisk T, Robins R, von Sonnenburg F, et al. Spectrum of disease and relation to place of exposure among ill returned travelers. N Engl J Med. 2006 Jan 12; 354(2):119–30.
[05] Chen LH, Hill DR. PIER Module: Travel immunizations. Philadelphia, PA: American College of Physicians [cited 2012 Sep 18]. Available from: http://pier.acponline.org/physicians/procedures/physpro272/physpro272-wn.html
[06] Angell SY, Behrens RH. Risk assessment and disease prevention in travelers visiting friends and relatives. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2005 Mar; 19(1):49–65.
[07] International Society of Travel Medicine. The body of knowledge for the practice of travel medicine. Atlanta: International Society of Travel Medicine; 2006 [cited 2012 Sep 18]. Available from: https://www.istm.org/WebForms/Members/MemberResources/Cert_Travhlth/Body.aspx
[08] Steffen R, Amitirigala I, Mutsch M. Health risks among travelers—need for regular updates. J Travel Med. 2008 May–Jun; 15(3):145–6.
[09] Piotte E, Bellanger AP, Piton G, Millon L, Marguet P.J Travel Med. 2013 Jul-Aug; 20(4):221-7. Doi: 10.1111/jtm.12030. Epub 2013 May 22.Pre-travel consultation: evaluation of primary care physician practice in the Franche-Comté region.
[10] Hatz CFR, Chen LH. Pre-travel consultation. In: Keystone JS, Freedman DO, Kozarsky PE, Connor BA, Nothdurft HD, editors. Travel Medicine. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier; 2013: p. 31–6.
[11] Chen LH, Wilson ME, Davis X, Loutan L, Schwartz E, Keystone J, et al. Illness in long-term travelers visiting GeoSentinel clinics. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009 Nov; 15(11):1773–82.
[12] Toovey S. Malaria chemoprophylaxis advice: survey of South African community pharmacists' knowledge and practices. J Travel Med 2006; 13:161-165.
[13] Annelies Wilder-Smith, Nor S. Khairullah, Jae-Hoon Song, Ching-Yu Chen, and Joseph Torresi, Travel Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices among Australasian Travellers, J Travel Med 2004; 11:9–15.
[14] Van Herck K,Van Damme P, Castelli F, et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practices in travel-related infectious diseases: the European airport survey J Travel Med 2004; 11:3-8.
[15] Hamer D, Connor B. Travel health knowledge, attitudes and practices among United States travellers. J Travel Med 2004; 11: 23 – 26.
[16] Lopez-Velez R, Bayas JM.Spanish travelers to high-risk areas in the tropics: airport survey of travel health knowledge, attitudes, and practices in vaccination and malaria prevention. J Travel Med. 2007 Sep-Oct; 14(5):297-305.
[17] Toovey S, Jamieson A, Holloway M. Travellers’ ’knowledge, attitudes and practices on the prevention of infectious diseases: results from a study at Johannesburg International Airport. J Travel Med 2004; 11: 16 – 22.
[18] Al-Hajri M. M. (2008): Traveller’s preventive health measures against infectious diseases and physicians’ awareness toward travel medicine in Qatar 2007. Unpublished thesis of Arab Board in Community Medicine. Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice of Travellers regarding Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Primary Care Physicians Practice and Awareness Toward Travel Medicine in Qatar, Qatar International Airport, departure lounge, June – July 2007.
[19] Provost S, Gaulin C, Piquet-Gauthier B, et al Travel agents and the prevention of health problems among travellers in Québec. J Travel Med 2002; 9: 3–9
[20] Lawlor DA, Burke J, Bouskill E, et al.Do British travel agents provide adequate health advice for travellers? Br J Gen Pract 2000; 50(456):567–8.
600 ATLANTIC AVE, BOSTON,
MA 02210, USA
+001-6179630233
AIS is an academia-oriented and non-commercial institute aiming at providing users with a way to quickly and easily get the academic and scientific information.
Copyright © 2014 - American Institute of Science except certain content provided by third parties.