title: Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Japanese travelers towards malaria prevention during overseas travel.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There has been some concern that Japanese travelers are not adequately protected against malaria, especially when compared to Western travelers. Multi-national studies of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding malaria risk have previously been conducted in travelers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a KAP study in Japanese travelers using the same standardized questionnaire as the previous studies. Unlike those studies, questionnaires could not be distributed at departure lounges/gates at international airports, and therefore, travelers were sourced from several different study sites, targeting different populations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 212 Japanese travelers who had visited malarious areas were enrolled, of which 63.2% had visited Asia and 28.3% visited sub-Saharan Africa. Significant shortcomings in KAP were noted with respect to lack of knowledge about symptoms of malaria, poor awareness of malaria risk at their destination, and non-adherence to adequate antimosquito measures. Chemoprophylaxis use was lower among Japanese travelers than travelers from other countries, even when confining to those traveling to sub-Saharan Africa.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Japanese travel medicine providers and general practitioners who engage in pre-travel consultation should raise awareness of travelers about the seriousness of malaria, the need for improved compliance with chemoprophylaxis, and the importance of being properly prepared prior to departure.
authors.affiliation: Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Namikawa
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Shigeo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takizawa
authors.forename: Akehiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Konta
authors.forename: Tadayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014195:Travel
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials