Travel health insurance: indicator of serious travel health risks.
BACKGROUND
Travel health risks documented by questionnaire surveys obtained (e.g., during homebound flights) are incomplete since they miss most patients who need to be repatriated.


METHODS
All patient claim files were reviewed from 1997 to 1998, of the largest Swiss travel insurance company.


RESULTS
Among 242 claims, 69.4% were due to illness, 30.6% due to accidents; infections were the most frequent illnesses, the extremities were the most frequently traumatized part of the body. Although the illness-to-accident ratio was 1:5 in industrialized countries and the Caribbean, it exceeded 3:0 in some developing regions. Accident proneness was noted in the first week abroad.


CONCLUSIONS
Even if no denominator data are available, this analysis offers an insight in travel health risks, allowing comparison of the occurrences of very different, serious, health problems abroad.
Somer Kniestedt
Rea A
RA
Travel Clinic, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine of the University, Zurich, Switzerland.
Steffen
R
R
D000059:Accidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007341:Insurance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013557:Switzerland; D013995:Time; D014195:Travel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*