Abstract
BackgroundEach year clusters of imported malaria cases are observed in Dutch wintersun vacationers returning from The Gambia. To gain more insight in the travel health preparation and awareness of these travellers, the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of this travel group was studied by analysing the data of the Continuous Dutch Schiphol Airport Survey.MethodsIn the years 2002 to 2009 a questionnaire-based survey was conducted at the Dutch Schiphol Airport with the aim to study the KAP, i.e. accuracy of risk perception (“knowledge”), intended risk-avoiding behaviour (“attitude”) and use of personal protective measures and malaria chemoprophylaxis (“practice”) toward prevention malaria in travellers to The Gambia. Travellers to other high-risk destinations served as controls.ResultsThe KAP of travellers to The Gambia toward prevention of malaria was significantly better than that observed in other travellers. Trend analyses indicated that attitude improved over time in both groups but knowledge did not change. Only in travellers to high-risk countries other than The Gambia significant increases in protection rates were observed over time.ConclusionsThe KAP of travellers to The Gambia toward prevention of malaria was better than that observed in travellers to destinations other than The Gambia. Trend analyses revealed a significant improvement of intended risk avoiding behaviour but not in protection rates or risk perception.
Highlights
Each year clusters of imported malaria cases are observed in Dutch wintersun vacationers returning from The Gambia
In an effort to gain more insight in the travel health preparation and awareness of wintersun vacationers to the Gambia, the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of this travel group was studied by van Genderen et al Malaria Journal 2014, 13:74 http://www.malariajournal.com/content/13/1/74 analysing the data of the Continuous Dutch Schiphol Airport Survey
Study population Across all seven years in the period from 2002 to 2009 there were 3,045 eligible respondents in the Dutch Continuous Schiphol Airport study, as previously published [8]; 708 of them travelled to destinations with a high risk for malaria and were included in the current study. 373 (52.7%) of them travelled to The Gambia. 335 respondents travelled to other highrisk destinations, most commonly to Surinam (n = 101, 14.3%) followed by Ghana (n = 66, 9.3%), Nigeria (n = 49, 6.9%), Uganda (n = 31, 4.4%) and Kenya (n = 29, 4.1%), respectively
Summary
In an effort to gain more insight in the travel health preparation and awareness of wintersun vacationers to the Gambia, the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of this travel group was studied by van Genderen et al Malaria Journal 2014, 13:74 http://www.malariajournal.com/content/13/1/74 analysing the data of the Continuous Dutch Schiphol Airport Survey. In this annually repeated questionnairebased survey, the main determinants that constitute the traveller’s personal risk profile toward travel-related infectious diseases like malaria were systematically evaluated in passengers waiting to board on flights to various destinations with a risk for contracting malaria and provide important feed-back on their travel health preparation, perception of risk as well as risk-seeking or risk-avoiding behaviour
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
