A Survey of the Health Experiences of International Business Travelers (original) (raw)
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Health Problems of Corporate Travelers: Risk Factors and Management
Journal of Travel Medicine, 1998
Background: Numerous studies have been done regarding health problems experienced by tourists in developing countries; however, little data exist about these health risks and illnesses experienced by corporate travelers. Mefhods:The authors examined by electronic survey the health risks encountered, compliance with pretravel health recommendations, and illnesses and injuries experienced by employees of the Coca-Cola Company who travel internationally. Results:Two hundred twenty-six travelers responded. Although most travelers ate meals at their hotels and chose foods that were cooked and still hot, over half also ate foods that remained at room temperature for prolonged periods and/or ate from cold salad bars. Almost half drank untreated tap water.Thirty-five percent of travelers developed diarrhea and 29% reported respiratory illnesses, with 12% seeking medical attention for their problems. Forty-three percent of those traveling to malarious regions admitted to noncompliance with antimalarial recommendations. Health kits provided were used by only 51% of travelers. Conclusions: Although many corporate travelers followed pretravel health recommendations, some did not. Injuries, fever, and illnesses such as diarrhea and respiratory infections occurred. Strategies t o improve access to the travel clinic and the acquisition of health information and travel health kits are being implemented.The health risks and behaviors of corporate travelers, including the potential impact of psychosocial stressors, need greater attention.
Travelers’ health problems and behavior: prospective study with post-travel follow-up
BMC Infectious Diseases, 2016
Background: The annual number of international tourist arrivals has recently exceeded one billion, yet surprisingly few studies have characterized travelers' behavior, illness, and risk factors in a prospective setting. Particularly scarce are surveys of data spanning travel, return, and follow-up of the same cohort. This study examines behavior and illness among travelers while abroad, after return home, and at follow-up. Patterns of behavior connected to type of travel and illness are characterized so as to identify risk factors and provide background data for pre-travel advice. Methods: Volunteers to this prospective cohort study were recruited at visits to a travel clinic prior to departure. Data on the subjects' health and behavior were collected by questionnaires before and after journeys and over a three-week follow-up. In addition, the subjects were asked to fill in health diaries while traveling. Results: The final study population consisted of 460 subjects, 79 % of whom reported illness during travel or on arrival: 69 % had travelers' diarrhea (TD), 17 % skin problems, 17 % fever, 12 % vomiting, 8 % respiratory tract infection, 4 % urinary tract infection, 2 % ear infection, 4 % gastrointestinal complaints other than TD or vomiting, and 4 % other symptoms. Of all subjects, 10 % consulted a doctor and 0.7 % were hospitalized; 18 % took antimicrobials, with TD as the most common indication (64 %). Ongoing symptoms were reported by 25 % of all travelers upon return home. During the three-week follow-up (return rate 51 %), 32 % of respondents developed new-onset symptoms, 20 % visited a doctor and 1.7 % were hospitalized. Factors predisposing to health problems were identified by multivariable analysis: certain regions (Southern Asia, SouthEastern Asia, and Eastern Africa), female gender, young age, and long travel duration. Conclusions: Despite proper preventive measures like vaccinations, malaria prophylaxis, and travel advice, the majority of our subjects fell ill during or after travel. As the symptoms mostly remained mild, health care services were seldom needed. Typical traveler profiles were identified, thereby providing a tool for pre-travel advice. The finding that one third reported new-onset illness during follow-up attests to the importance of advising clients on potential post-travel health problems already during pre-travel visits.
Business travel-associated illness: a GeoSentinel analysis
Journal of travel medicine, 2018
Analysis of a large cohort of business travelers will help clinicians focus on frequent and serious illnesses. We aimed to describe travel-related health problems in business travelers. GeoSentinel Surveillance Network consists of 64 travel and tropical medicine clinics in 29 countries; descriptive analysis was performed on ill business travelers, defined as persons traveling for work, evaluated after international travel 1 January 1997 through 31 December 2014. Among 12 203 business travelers seen 1997-2014 (14 045 eligible diagnoses), the majority (97%) were adults aged 20-64 years; most (74%) reported from Western Europe or North America; two-thirds were male. Most (86%) were outpatients. Fewer than half (45%) reported a pre-travel healthcare encounter. Frequent regions of exposure were sub-Saharan Africa (37%), Southeast Asia (15%) and South Central Asia (14%). The most frequent diagnoses were malaria (9%), acute unspecified diarrhea (8%), viral syndrome (6%), acute bacterial di...
International Maritime Health
All around the world there has been a rapid growth in the number of international travels. According to the World Tourism Organisation the number of international tourist arrivals reached 1,235 billion in 2016 and continues to grow at a high rate. This has been much due to the development of air transport (including low-cost airlines), increasingly common economic migration, a growing number of travellers visiting friends and relatives, and an increase in medical tourism. With tropical destinations becoming increasingly popular among travellers, doctors have seen a rising number of patients who seek medical advice on health risks prevalent in hot countries and health prevention measures to be taken in tropical destinations, especially where sanitation is poor. The risk for developing a medical condition while staying abroad depends on a variety of factors, including the traveller's general health condition, health prevention measures taken before or during travel (vaccinations, antimalarial chemoprophylaxis, health precautions during air, road and sea travel, proper acclimatisation, prevention of heat injuries, protection against local flora and fauna, personal hygiene, water, food and feeding hygiene), as well as the prevalence of health risk factors in a given location. Health prevention is a precondition for safe travel and maintaining good physical health; in the era of a rapid growth in international tourism it has become of key importance for all travellers.
2017
International business travelers constitute an emerging type of international mobility, and there is a gap in terms of studies that address well-being. Based on the Holistic Model of Stress, we intend to explore the occupational stress associated with business travel through a qualitative case study using document analysis and semi-structured interviews. We verified a predominance of distress sources in the trip stage and the adoption of coping strategies focused on the problem. Personal and professional factors are assumed to be the main moderators of the stress experienced. We conclude that travel brings mostly negative personal consequences that are accentuated during the traveler's career, and confirm that the trips are a source of stress with impact on the personal and professional life of the traveler. The paper includes a discussion on the theoretical and practical implications of the findings for both the company and the travelers.
Health Risks of Business Travel: Innovation towards Travel Health Risk Management
2017
The aim of this paper is to review the literature describing the travel risk assessment and to introduce a new online tool, the Travel Risk Estimator for Business Traveller, (TREB). Travel risk assessment is an important part of the travel health practice; it includes evaluating both the risks of destination and health of the individual travelling to that destination. Risk assessment mainly determines what health and safety advice and interventions are given within the relevant prevailing travel health guidelines. The linkage between global travel and business is becoming stronger and travel related disease awareness has increased. With increased international interest in traveller' health, there is a demand to simplify and facilitate the travel health risk assessment. The authors have developed a prototype of an online tool, the TREB calculator. It is envisioned as a tool, which allows both traveller and health care professional to have a rough estimation of the risk of a trip ...
Injuries and medical emergencies among international travellers
Journal of Travel Medicine, 2023
Background Tropical infectious diseases and vaccine-preventable emergencies are the mainstay of pre-travel consultations. However, non-communicable diseases, injuries and accidents that occur during travel are not emphasized enough in these settings. Methods We performed a narrative review based on a literature search of PubMed, Google Scholar, UpToDate, DynaMed and LiSSa and on reference textbooks and medical journals dedicated to travel, emergency and wilderness medicine. Relevant secondary references were extracted. We also aimed to discuss newer or neglected issues, such as medical tourism, Coronavirus Disease 2019, exacerbations of co-morbidities associated with international travel, insurance coverage, health care seeking abroad, medical evacuation or repatriation and tips for different types of travellers’ emergency medical kits (personal, group, physician handled). Results All sources reviewed led to the selection of >170 references. Among epidemiological data on morbidit...
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND HEALTH: CONCERNS, SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS
International travel is a growing industry and millions of international travellers arrive and depart all through-out the world in this jet age. International travellers are prone to have certain health risks. It includes physical problems, psychological problems, Infectious Diseases, Injuries etc. The health risk to the travellers also depend on the various factors like destination, duration of travel, season of travel, purpose of travel, standards of accommodation etc. Thus it is a big challenge to public health in that way. Travellers with pre-existing diseases pose additional threat to their health. There are certain infectious diseases for which mandatory vaccination is required (e.g. Yellow Fever). SARS, Ebola virus disease and Swine flu are the recent examples which greatly influenced the international travel. Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) and the Hajj Pilgrimage are the two important categories of international travellers worldwide. The International Health Regulations (IHR) aims to prevent, protect against, control and provide public responses to the international spread of diseases. International responses and collaborations are required to combat the public health issues emerging out with rapid international travel. The roles and responsibilities of the travel industry professionals as well as the travellers are also discussed.
Travel Agents and the Prevention of Health Problems among Travelers in Québec
Journal of Travel Medicine, 2002
Every year, many Quebecers travel to international destinations, especially to developing countries, where there are many popular vacation destinations. 1 Even on organized tours, the risks related to traveling in developing countries are significant, particularly regarding infectious diseases. 2-5 In Québec, although specific prevention services for travelers are offered in about a hundred self-designated "travel clinics," a significant number of travelers going to developing countries do not consult before departure. 6-8 A study conducted in 1999 among Quebecers traveling to Mexico and the Dominican Republic demonstrated that, among the factors influencing travelers to consult a travel clinic, information given by the travel agent and the recommendation to consult made by the travel agent play a major role. 8 Travel agents are, in fact, significant sources of information for travelers. 7-13 Although several specialists in
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, 2013
Health safety during trips is based on previous counseling, vaccination and prevention of infections, previous diseases or specific problems related to the destination. Our aim was to assess two aspects, incidence of health problems related to travel and the traveler's awareness of health safety. To this end we phone-interviewed faculty members of a large public University, randomly selected from humanities, engineering and health schools. Out of 520 attempts, we were able to contact 67 (12.9%) and 46 (68.6%) agreed to participate in the study. There was a large male proportion (37/44, 84.1%), mature adults mostly in their forties and fifties (32/44, 72.7%), all of them with higher education, as you would expect of faculty members. Most described themselves as being sedentary or as taking occasional exercise, with only 15.9% (7/44) taking regular exercise. Preexisting diseases were reported by 15 travelers. Most trips lasted usually one week or less. Duration of the travel was r...