Title
Risk factors associated with diarrhea among international visitors to Cuzco, Peru
Date Issued
01 January 2006
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the risk factors for travelers' diarrhea (TD) reported by visitors to Cuzco, Peru. In this cross-sectional study, self-administered questionnaires looking at perceived occurrence of health problems and pre-travel health advice were obtained from departing travelers at Cuzco's International Airport between August and November 2002. A total of 5,988 travelers participated in the study. The mean age was 35 years, and 51% were women. The prevalence of TD was 24%. Factors associated with TD in the multivariable analysis were use of antibiotic prophylaxis (OR: 3.20), vaccination against cholera (OR: 1.44), history of advice for safe food and water consumption (OR: 1.46), being younger than 35 years of age (OR: 1.37), being a resident of the United States (OR: 1.28), not staying in hotels in Cuzco (OR: 1.13), and number of unsafe food or beverages consumed (OR: 1.04). Remaining in Cuzco < 1 week was a protective factor (OR: 0.58). TD is common among travelers to Cuzco. This study suggests that conventional recommendations are not invariably effective at decreasing TD. Copyright © 2006 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Start page
968
End page
972
Volume
75
Issue
5
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Medicina tropical
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-39049180653
PubMed ID
Source
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ISSN of the container
00029637
Sponsor(s)
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases P30DK056338 NIDDK
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus