Article
Knowledge and Attitudes About Travel Medicine in Latin America in the Context of COVID-19: A Cross-sectional Study
Registro en:
CASTILLO-SANTANA, Esmailyn et al. Knowledge and attitudes about travel medicine in latin america in the context of COVID-19: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health, v. 9, n. 3, p. 119-123, 2021
2476-5759
10.34172/ijtmgh.2021.20.
Autor
Castillo-Santana, Esmailyn
Varela, Margareth Catoia
Arámboles, Yocastia de Jesús
Suarez-Rodríguez, Anderson
Costa, Marcellus Dias da
Resumen
Introduction: Travel Medicine specialty has existed in Latin American for more than 25 years. The creation of the Latin American Society
of Travel Medicine (SLAMVI) stimulated medical education in this discipline, through research and scientific publications. However, Travel
Medicine is practically unknown to Latin Americans.
Methods: Latin Americans (n=9487) completed an online survey of ten questions from nine countries of the region to determine the
knowledge of the population about the existence of this specialty and their attitudes about it.
Results: Although more than 90% of those surveyed knew that traveling to certain countries requires to receive certain vaccines, less than
30% had heard of the specialty of Travel Medicine. After knowing the definition and objectives of the specialty, more than 90% of the
participants considered it important to carry out a pre-travel consultation with a specialist.
Conclusion: The lack of knowledge of the specialty is the main barrier to Latin Americans to have access to Travel Medicine consultation.
It is necessary to publicize the specialty, make the population aware of the importance of pre- and post-travel consultation, as well as the
creation of this service in more public hospitals in Latin America.