Underestimation of travel-associated risks by adult and paediatric travellers compared to expert assessment: A cross-sectional study at a hospital-based family pre-travel clinic

Pierre-Philippe Piché-Renaud; Jenny Hoang Nguyen; Lisa G Pell; Xiao Wei Ma; Nadia Alattas; Sarah Khan; Kevin L Schwartz; Daniel S Farrar; Nadia Akseer; Ray E Lam; Debra Louch; Michelle Science; Shaun K Morris

doi:10.1016/j.tmaid.2022.102315

Underestimation of travel-associated risks by adult and paediatric travellers compared to expert assessment: A cross-sectional study at a hospital-based family pre-travel clinic

Travel Med Infect Dis. 2022 May-Jun:47:102315. doi: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2022.102315. Epub 2022 Mar 21.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada; Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Cir, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada.
² Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, 1053 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4E9, Canada.
³ Centre for Global Child Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada.
⁴ Division of Infectious Diseases, McMaster Faculty of Health Science, 1280 Main St W, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada.
⁵ Public Health Ontario, 480 University Ave #300, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V2, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College St Room 500, Toronto, ON, M5T 3M7, Canada.
⁶ Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 615 N Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD, 21205, United States.
⁷ Division of Infectious Diseases, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada.
⁸ Division of Infectious Diseases, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada; Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Cir, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada; Centre for Global Child Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College St Room 500, Toronto, ON, M5T 3M7, Canada. Electronic address: Shaun.morris@sickkids.ca.

PMID: 35331951
DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2022.102315

Abstract

Background: Travellers' perception of their risk for acquiring travel-related conditions is an important contributor to decisions and behaviors during travel. In this study, we aimed to assess the differences between traveller-perceived and expert-assessed risk of travel-related conditions in children and adults travelling internationally and describe factors that influence travellers' perception of risk.

Methods: Children and adults were recruited at the Hospital for Sick Children's Family Travel Clinic between October 2014 and July 2015. A questionnaire was administered to participants to assess their perceived risk of acquiring 32 travel-related conditions using a 7-point Likert scale. Conditions were categorized as vector-borne diseases, vaccine-preventable diseases, food and water borne diseases, sexually transmitted infections and other conditions. Two certified travel medicine experts reviewed each patient's chart and assigned a risk score based on the same 7-point Likert scale. Traveller and expert risk scores were compared using paired t-tests.

Results: In total, 207 participants were enrolled to participate in this study, 97 children (self-reported, n = 8; parent-reported, n = 89), and 110 adults. Travel-related risk for adults and parents answering for their children were significantly underestimated when compared to expert-assessed risk for 26 of the 32 assessed conditions. The underestimated conditions were the same for both adults and parents answering for children. Travel-related risk was not over-estimated for any condition.

Conclusions: Adults underestimated their children's and their own risk for most travel-related conditions. Strategies to improve the accuracy of risk perception of travel-related conditions by travellers are needed to optimize healthy travel for children and their families.

Keywords: Child health; Risk perception; Travel medicine; Travel-related disease.

MeSH terms

Adult
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Hospitals
Humans
Surveys and Questionnaires
Travel Medicine*
Travel*