Abstract
BackgroundEffective pre-travel consultations cannot be achieved only through individual risk assessment and advice on vaccinations and chemoprophylaxis. Travelers’ perceptions of the risk of health problems represent another key factor in successful risk communication and co-operation with pre-travel advice. The objective of this study was to determine perception of travel-related health risks among Thais and westerners visiting the Thai Travel Clinic for consultation before visiting developing countries.MethodsA novel pictorial scale questionnaire-based study was conducted with both Thai and western travelers who visited the Thai Travel Clinic for pre-travel consultation. All participants were approached before and after completing the consultation, and were asked about their demographic data and perceptions of travel-related health risk. The perceptions of risk before and after consultation were compared using the McNemar test, and were also compared with the actual estimated risk.ResultsDuring May to November 2019, 594 travelers (330 Thais and 264 Westerners) were enrolled and completed the pictorial scale questionnaires. Most Thai travelers visited Africa/South America (63%), and 20% had previously received counseling. Westerners were mostly backpackers (37.5%), traveling for > 30 days (71.6%), while 43.6% had previously received counseling. Overall, the westerners (n = 264) changed their risk perceptions slightly after counseling in contrast with the Thais. The change in perception of most health problems was observed statistically significant (p-value < 0.05) after receiving pre-travel consultation among both groups of travelers. Risk perception among western travelers after consultation compared with estimated actual risk showed accurate risk perception toward most of health problems especially in travelers who had previously received counseling in ones’ home countries.ConclusionsRisk perception of health problems plays an important role in successful risk communication and their response to pre-travel advices. Differences in risk perceptions were evident between the two groups. Therefore, this highlight the importance of obtaining pre-travel advice in one’s home country before travelling. Raised awareness of the risks should be emphasized during consultations for underestimated health risks, especially for rabid animal exposure and sexually transmitted diseases.
Highlights
Effective pre-travel consultations cannot be achieved only through individual risk assessment and advice on vaccinations and chemoprophylaxis
Eligible participants were 1) Thai travelers who traveled to any countries in Africa/South America, Southeast Asia or South Asia; 2) western travelers to Southeast Asia, defined as travelers who came from North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, who could understand and were willing to complete the English language questionnaire; 3) aged 18 years or older; and 4) first visit to the Thai Travel Clinic
Of 264 western travelers, 53.8% were in the age group 18–29 years
Summary
Effective pre-travel consultations cannot be achieved only through individual risk assessment and advice on vaccinations and chemoprophylaxis. Travelers’ perceptions of the risk of health problems represent another key factor in successful risk communication and co-operation with pre-travel advice. Pre-travel consultation, with individual risk assessment, aims to address travelers’ risks related to their itineraries and minimize those risks by educating travelers and providing appropriate vaccination(s) and chemoprophylaxis [4]. We currently lack an effective method for assessing perception of risk, especially one immediately comparable with standard estimated actual risk scales [5, 6]. In this study, we used a new measurement method to assess travelers’ risk perceptions By using this tool, we aimed to determine risk perceptions of health problems among travelers before and after pre-travel counseling
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