title: Knowledge, attitudes, and practices on malaria prevention among Chinese international travelers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To address the lack of understanding in malaria prevention among Chinese international travelers, we have conducted knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) study in five different Chinese geographic areas. This survey represents one part of the background information needed to analyze imported malaria.
  
  
  METHODS
  Standardized questionnaires were distributed to Chinese international travelers in departure lounges at international airports in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, and Nanjing. The data were entered into the Epidata 3.1 (Jens M. Lauritsen, Odense, Denmark) and analyzed by the SPSS 12.0 statistical package (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall 2,495 completed questionnaires were collected from departing Chinese passengers; 1,573 were contributed by travelers who were going to malaria risk countries. More than half of all travelers spent less than 7 days to organize their trip abroad. Pre-travel medical advice was sought by 998 travelers (40.0%), 65.1% of them did so for 1-7 days before departure. Only 4.0% travelers received their knowledge from travel health providers. Among 389 travelers who were going to high malaria risk countries, only 18.0% realized that there is a high malaria risk in sub-Saharan Africa. Most travelers going to risk areas knew about personal protection measures against mosquito bites, but only 21.4% and 12.1% carried mosquito repellents or insecticides, respectively. Only 18.7% of the 1,573 potentially exposed travelers carried malaria tablets, all of them for self-treatment, none for prophylaxis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  KAP about malaria among exposed Chinese travelers is far from satisfactory. To reduce the rate of imported malaria, specific educational tools should be developed for those at high risk to make them understand and become compliant with chemoprophylaxis.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong International Travel Healthcare Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China. zhangminchinese@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hongtao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Shunqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Honglei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007306:Insecticides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008288:Malaria / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057147:Mosquito Nets / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014195:Travel; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D007306:Insecticides