title: Impact of advice given to travelers concerning the main infectious risks associated with traveling in the tropics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevention of sanitary risks related to traveling in the tropics implies delivering a large amount of information to travelers. The objective of our study was to assess the knowledge acquired by travelers during a pre-travel consultation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A before and after study was conducted among 202 travelers having consulted at the Tours international vaccine center. We used self-administrated questionnaires (score out of 100 marks) concerning diet, hygiene, anti-vectorial prevention (AVP), and sexual-transmitted infections (STI). The scores obtained before and after consultation were compared globally and for each topic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The travelers' global knowledge had improved after consultation (66.1 vs. 75.5%; P < 0.0001) as well as for each topic. The most important improvement concerned hygiene (+12.5%; P < 0.0001) and the lowest concerned STI (+5.8%; P < 0.0001). The multivariate analysis revealed that not having searched for information before consulting was the main factor associated with global knowledge improvement (P < 0.0001) (unplanned professional traveling compared to humanitarian mission prepared ahead of departure time). The recommendations for diet were less well acquired in travelers > 50 years of age than in those < 30 years of age (P < 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A specialized pre-travel consultation improves the travelers' knowledge for the main prevention measures but does not allow them to acquire all required knowledge. Taking into account the travelers' initial knowledge and their ability to learn could improve the impact of the pre-travel consultation.
authors.affiliation: Unité de consultation des voyageurs, CHRU de Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37000 Tours cedex 1, France; Université François-Rabelais, Tours, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lestelle
authors.affiliation: Université François-Rabelais, Tours, France; Service d'information médicale, d'épidémiologie et d'économie de la santé, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France; Équipe émergente 1, éducation éthique santé, université François-Rabelais, Tours, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aymeric
authors.affiliation: Unité de consultation des voyageurs, CHRU de Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37000 Tours cedex 1, France; Service de médecine interne et maladies infectieuses, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Maakaroun-Vermesse
authors.affiliation: Unité de consultation des voyageurs, CHRU de Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37000 Tours cedex 1, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pouliquen
authors.affiliation: Unité de consultation des voyageurs, CHRU de Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37000 Tours cedex 1, France; Université François-Rabelais, Tours, France; Service de médecine interne et maladies infectieuses, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bernard
authors.affiliation: Unité de consultation des voyageurs, CHRU de Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37000 Tours cedex 1, France; Université François-Rabelais, Tours, France; Service de parasitologie-mycologie-médecine tropicale, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chandenier
authors.affiliation: Unité de consultation des voyageurs, CHRU de Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37000 Tours cedex 1, France; Université François-Rabelais, Tours, France; Service d'information médicale, d'épidémiologie et d'économie de la santé, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France; Équipe émergente 1, éducation éthique santé, université François-Rabelais, Tours, France. Electronic address: leslie.guillon@univ-tours.fr.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grammatico-Guillon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D003132:Commerce; D003376:Counseling; D004032:Diet; D004199:Disease Vectors; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D017053:Infection Control; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D008297:Male; D008493:Medical Missions; D008875:Middle Aged; D012306:Risk; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014195:Travel; D014330:Tropical Medicine / Q000193:education*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Infections tropicales; Médecine du voyage; Prevention of infections; Prévention des infections; Travel medicine; Tropical infections