Knowledge and practice of malaria prophylaxis among travel medicine consultants in Greece

Abstract

Malaria is among the most significant travel-related infections encountered by travellers to endemic countries in terms of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge and practices about malaria prophylaxis of travel medicine consultants in Greece. A standardized questionnaire was sent to travel medicine consultants in all 57 Regional Departments of Public Health which are the official travel medicine services in Greece. Seventy (66% response rate) travel medicine consultants participated in the survey. Of them, 34.3%, 17.1%, and 44.3% delivered >20, 6-20, and ≤5 consultations per month, respectively. The average score of correct answers was 60% about malaria general knowledge and prophylaxis, and 60% about case scenarios. Linear regression revealed that being a physician and previous training in travel medicine were factors statistically significantly associated with higher rates of correct answers. Our results show inadequacies in knowledge and practices on malaria prophylaxis of travel medicine consultants in Greece. Continuing training and usage of credible information resources about malaria transmission and malaria prophylaxis in travellers will improve the quality of pre-travel advice provided by travel medicine consultants in Greece.