Cargando…
International University Students’ Pre-Travel Preparation, Knowledge and Practices towards Travel Health in Thailand: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study
International university students are vulnerable travellers due to their unpredictable schedules and lifestyles. As Thailand continues to see an increase in international students, evaluating their pre-travel preparation and preventive behaviours is crucial to identify areas for improvement. For thi...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2023
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10303968/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37368740 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8060322 |
_version_ | 1785065399878942720 |
---|---|
author | Jaita, Sawettachai Pisutsan, Phimphan Lawpoolsri, Saranath Kitro, Amornphat Kittitrakul, Chatporn Kusolsuk, Teera Kamolratanakul, Supitcha Chompoosri, Poom Flaherty, Gerard T. Dhitavat, Jittima |
author_facet | Jaita, Sawettachai Pisutsan, Phimphan Lawpoolsri, Saranath Kitro, Amornphat Kittitrakul, Chatporn Kusolsuk, Teera Kamolratanakul, Supitcha Chompoosri, Poom Flaherty, Gerard T. Dhitavat, Jittima |
author_sort | Jaita, Sawettachai |
collection | PubMed |
description | International university students are vulnerable travellers due to their unpredictable schedules and lifestyles. As Thailand continues to see an increase in international students, evaluating their pre-travel preparation and preventive behaviours is crucial to identify areas for improvement. For this purpose, an online survey focusing on pre-travel preparation, knowledge and preventive practices related to travel health was distributed to 324 eligible international students from 14 Thai universities, with the majority being from Asia and Oceania (79.0%; n = 256). The results showed that half of the respondents (53.7%; n = 175) received professional pre-travel advice, mainly because of the mandatory health examination and vaccination requirements of the host university. The study also revealed inadequate knowledge about infectious and non-infectious health risks, with only one-third being aware that Japanese encephalitis is transmitted by mosquito bites, and less than half of the students recognising Thailand’s emergency services number. Poor preventive practices were also observed, with less than half of those with new sexual partners consistently using condoms and less than half of those riding motorcycles always wearing helmets. These findings highlight the need for a new strategy to improve the standard of travel health preparation among this group of young adult travellers, particularly those from resource-limited countries. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10303968 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-103039682023-06-29 International University Students’ Pre-Travel Preparation, Knowledge and Practices towards Travel Health in Thailand: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study Jaita, Sawettachai Pisutsan, Phimphan Lawpoolsri, Saranath Kitro, Amornphat Kittitrakul, Chatporn Kusolsuk, Teera Kamolratanakul, Supitcha Chompoosri, Poom Flaherty, Gerard T. Dhitavat, Jittima Trop Med Infect Dis Article International university students are vulnerable travellers due to their unpredictable schedules and lifestyles. As Thailand continues to see an increase in international students, evaluating their pre-travel preparation and preventive behaviours is crucial to identify areas for improvement. For this purpose, an online survey focusing on pre-travel preparation, knowledge and preventive practices related to travel health was distributed to 324 eligible international students from 14 Thai universities, with the majority being from Asia and Oceania (79.0%; n = 256). The results showed that half of the respondents (53.7%; n = 175) received professional pre-travel advice, mainly because of the mandatory health examination and vaccination requirements of the host university. The study also revealed inadequate knowledge about infectious and non-infectious health risks, with only one-third being aware that Japanese encephalitis is transmitted by mosquito bites, and less than half of the students recognising Thailand’s emergency services number. Poor preventive practices were also observed, with less than half of those with new sexual partners consistently using condoms and less than half of those riding motorcycles always wearing helmets. These findings highlight the need for a new strategy to improve the standard of travel health preparation among this group of young adult travellers, particularly those from resource-limited countries. MDPI 2023-06-15 /pmc/articles/PMC10303968/ /pubmed/37368740 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8060322 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Jaita, Sawettachai Pisutsan, Phimphan Lawpoolsri, Saranath Kitro, Amornphat Kittitrakul, Chatporn Kusolsuk, Teera Kamolratanakul, Supitcha Chompoosri, Poom Flaherty, Gerard T. Dhitavat, Jittima International University Students’ Pre-Travel Preparation, Knowledge and Practices towards Travel Health in Thailand: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study |
title | International University Students’ Pre-Travel Preparation, Knowledge and Practices towards Travel Health in Thailand: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study |
title_full | International University Students’ Pre-Travel Preparation, Knowledge and Practices towards Travel Health in Thailand: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study |
title_fullStr | International University Students’ Pre-Travel Preparation, Knowledge and Practices towards Travel Health in Thailand: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study |
title_full_unstemmed | International University Students’ Pre-Travel Preparation, Knowledge and Practices towards Travel Health in Thailand: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study |
title_short | International University Students’ Pre-Travel Preparation, Knowledge and Practices towards Travel Health in Thailand: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study |
title_sort | international university students’ pre-travel preparation, knowledge and practices towards travel health in thailand: a nationwide cross-sectional study |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10303968/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37368740 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8060322 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT jaitasawettachai internationaluniversitystudentspretravelpreparationknowledgeandpracticestowardstravelhealthinthailandanationwidecrosssectionalstudy AT pisutsanphimphan internationaluniversitystudentspretravelpreparationknowledgeandpracticestowardstravelhealthinthailandanationwidecrosssectionalstudy AT lawpoolsrisaranath internationaluniversitystudentspretravelpreparationknowledgeandpracticestowardstravelhealthinthailandanationwidecrosssectionalstudy AT kitroamornphat internationaluniversitystudentspretravelpreparationknowledgeandpracticestowardstravelhealthinthailandanationwidecrosssectionalstudy AT kittitrakulchatporn internationaluniversitystudentspretravelpreparationknowledgeandpracticestowardstravelhealthinthailandanationwidecrosssectionalstudy AT kusolsukteera internationaluniversitystudentspretravelpreparationknowledgeandpracticestowardstravelhealthinthailandanationwidecrosssectionalstudy AT kamolratanakulsupitcha internationaluniversitystudentspretravelpreparationknowledgeandpracticestowardstravelhealthinthailandanationwidecrosssectionalstudy AT chompoosripoom internationaluniversitystudentspretravelpreparationknowledgeandpracticestowardstravelhealthinthailandanationwidecrosssectionalstudy AT flahertygerardt internationaluniversitystudentspretravelpreparationknowledgeandpracticestowardstravelhealthinthailandanationwidecrosssectionalstudy AT dhitavatjittima internationaluniversitystudentspretravelpreparationknowledgeandpracticestowardstravelhealthinthailandanationwidecrosssectionalstudy |