Abstract:
Background: Growth of international travel to malarial areas over the last decades has contributed to more travelers taking malaria prophylaxis. Travel-related symptoms may be wrongly attributed to malaria prophylaxis and hinder compliance. Here, we aimed to assess the frequency of real-time reporting of symptoms by travelers following malaria prophylaxis using a smartphone app. Method: Adult international travelers included in this single-center study (Barcelona, Spain) used the smartphone Trip Doctor® app developed by our group for real-time tracking of symptoms and adherence to prophylaxis. Results: Six hundred four (n = 604) international travelers were included in the study; 74.3% (449) used the app daily, and for one-quarter of travelers, malaria prophylaxis was prescribed. Participants from the prophylaxis group traveled more to Africa (86.7% vs. 4.3%; p < 0.01) and to high travel medical risk countries (60.8% vs. 18%; p < 0.01) and reported more immunosuppression (30.8% vs. 23.1% p < 0.01). Regarding symptoms, no significant intergroup differences were observed, and no relationship was found between the total number of malarial pills taken and reported symptoms. Conclusions: In our cohort, the number of symptoms due to malaria prophylaxis was not significantly higher than in participants for whom prophylaxis was not prescribed, and the overall proportion of symptoms is higher compared with other studies.
摘要:
背景:在过去的几十年中,疟疾地区的国际旅行的增长促进了更多的旅行者接受疟疾预防。与旅行有关的症状可能被错误地归因于疟疾预防并阻碍依从性。这里,我们旨在评估旅行者在使用智能手机应用程序预防疟疾后实时报告症状的频率.方法:这项单中心研究中包括的成年国际旅行者(巴塞罗那,西班牙)使用我们小组开发的智能手机TripDoctor®应用程序实时跟踪症状和坚持预防。结果:6104(n=604)国际旅行者被纳入研究;74.3%(449)每天使用该应用程序,对于四分之一的旅行者来说,规定了疟疾预防。来自预防组的参与者更多地前往非洲(86.7%vs.4.3%;p<0.01)和高旅行医疗风险国家(60.8%与18%;p<0.01),并报告更多的免疫抑制(30.8%vs.23.1%p<0.01)。关于症状,没有观察到显著的组间差异,并且没有发现服用疟疾药的总数与报告的症状之间的关系。结论:在我们的队列中,预防疟疾引起的症状数量并不明显高于未规定预防的参与者,与其他研究相比,症状的总体比例更高。