Korean travelers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the prevention of malaria: measures taken by travelers departing for India from Incheon International Airport.
BACKGROUND
Although many Koreans travel each year to countries where malaria is present, few data are available on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Koreans with regards to malaria.


METHODS
The study was conducted in the departure lounge of Incheon International Airport in May 2006. A 22-item questionnaire was administered to Korean travelers whose travel destination was India.


RESULTS
Of 188 respondents, 24% had sought pretravel health information. Independent predictors for seeking pretravel health information were the following: being a Korean woman, longer duration of travel, planning to travel independently or to a rural area, and perceived risk of malaria. A total of 47% of travelers answered that they had not perceived any risk of malaria, and only 7% of travelers carried malaria prophylaxis.


CONCLUSIONS
There is an urgent need for increased awareness about travel-related infectious diseases (especially malaria) among Korean travelers, and they should be encouraged to seek pretravel health information.
Yoo
Youk-Jin
YJ
Department of Family Medicine, Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
Bae
Go-Oon
GO
Choi
Ji-Ho
JH
Shin
Ho-Chol
HC
Ga
Hyuk
H
Shin
Sae-Ron
SR
Kim
Mi-Sook
MS
Joo
Kyu-Jin
KJ
Park
Chang-Hae
CH
Yoon
Hyun-Jung
HJ
Baek
Heui-Jin
HJ
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007723:Korea; D016015:Logistic Models; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014195:Travel