Rhett J Stoney1, Phyllis Kozarsky2, Roberd M Bostick3, Mark J Sotir2. 1. Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA and uyn2@cdc.gov. 2. Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA and. 3. Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New Jersey Department of Health used the New Jersey Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (NJBRFS), a state component of the national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to pilot a travel health module designed to collect population-based data on New Jersey residents travelling internationally. Our objective was to use this population-based travel health information to serve as a baseline to evaluate trends in US international travellers. METHODS: A representative sample of New Jersey residents was identified through a random-digit-dialing method and administered the travel health module, which asked five questions: travel outside of USA during the previous year; destination; purpose; if a healthcare provider was visited before travel and any travel-related illness. Additional health variables from the larger NJBRFS were considered and included in bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regression; weights were assigned to variables to account for survey design complexity. RESULTS: Of 4029 participants, 841 (21%) travelled internationally. Top destinations included Mexico (10%), Canada (9%), Dominican Republic (6%), Bahamas (5%) and Italy (5%). Variables positively associated with travel included foreign birth, ≥$75 000 annual household income, college education and no children living in the household. One hundred fifty (18%) of 821 travellers with known destinations went to high-risk countries; 40% were visiting friends and relatives and only 30% sought pre-travel healthcare. Forty-eight (6%) of 837 responding travellers reported travel-related illness; 44% visited high-risk countries. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately one in five NJBRFS respondents travelled internationally during the previous year, a sizeable proportion to high-risk destinations. Few reported becoming ill as a result of travel but almost one-half of those ill had travelled to high-risk destinations. Population-based surveillance data on travellers can help document trends in destinations, traveller type and disease prevalence and evaluate the effectiveness of disease prevention programmmes. Published by Oxford University Press International Society of Travel Medicine 2016. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.
BACKGROUND: In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New Jersey Department of Health used the New Jersey Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (NJBRFS), a state component of the national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to pilot a travel health module designed to collect population-based data on New Jersey residents travelling internationally. Our objective was to use this population-based travel health information to serve as a baseline to evaluate trends in US international travellers. METHODS: A representative sample of New Jersey residents was identified through a random-digit-dialing method and administered the travel health module, which asked five questions: travel outside of USA during the previous year; destination; purpose; if a healthcare provider was visited before travel and any travel-related illness. Additional health variables from the larger NJBRFS were considered and included in bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regression; weights were assigned to variables to account for survey design complexity. RESULTS: Of 4029 participants, 841 (21%) travelled internationally. Top destinations included Mexico (10%), Canada (9%), Dominican Republic (6%), Bahamas (5%) and Italy (5%). Variables positively associated with travel included foreign birth, ≥$75 000 annual household income, college education and no children living in the household. One hundred fifty (18%) of 821 travellers with known destinations went to high-risk countries; 40% were visiting friends and relatives and only 30% sought pre-travel healthcare. Forty-eight (6%) of 837 responding travellers reported travel-related illness; 44% visited high-risk countries. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately one in five NJBRFS respondents travelled internationally during the previous year, a sizeable proportion to high-risk destinations. Few reported becoming ill as a result of travel but almost one-half of those ill had travelled to high-risk destinations. Population-based surveillance data on travellers can help document trends in destinations, traveller type and disease prevalence and evaluate the effectiveness of disease prevention programmmes. Published by Oxford University Press International Society of Travel Medicine 2016. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.
Entities:
Keywords:
BRFSS; New Jersey; US international travel; population-based surveillance; travel epidemiology; travellers’ health
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