Gaps in knowledge and practices of malaria prevention in Francophone African immigrants in Metropolitan Edmonton

Malaria Journal

Table 4 Pre-travel and during travel practices among travellers

Parameter	Frequency, n=155 who travelled to endemic regions (Percentage %)
Pre-travel practices
Type of advice sought
Canadian doctors	45 (29)
Travelers health services	28 (18)
Pharmacy	7 (5)
Other^a	23 (14)
No advice sought	52 (34)
Reason for not seeking healthcare practitioner’s advice before leaving Canada (n=52)
Not worth it^b	16 (31)
Not used to do it	16 (31)
Already informed	8 (15)
Language barrier^c	1 (2)
Other	11 (21)
Preventive methods before leaving Canada
Anti-malarial drugs from health professional in Canada^d	73 (47)
Mosquito repellent cream and incense	53 (34)
Had put a bed net in my suitcase	26 (17)
Non-prescription drugs sold in Canada	9 (6)
Other	9 (6)
No pre-travel precautions taken	48 (31)
Practices during travel
Effective preventive methods used when arrived in malaria endemic areas
Bed nets	64 (41)
Anti-malarial medication^e	24 (15)
Anti-malarial drugs from health professional in Canada	34 (22)
Anti-mosquito cream/spray	36 (23)
Other	18 (12)
No preventive measures taken	27 (17)
Reason for not using preventive methods in arrival country (n=27)
Not worth it	10 (37)
Was not informed/Not used to doing it	8 (30)
Prior immunity	2 (7)
Other	7 (26)

All 382 participants answered to questions that are presented in this table. But for the relevance of the topic, only data from those who travelled to endemic areas were considered for analysis.
^aParticipants answered “yes” but listed encounters that were abroad (n=9), non-medical (n=5), said they did not know (n=7), or did not specify (n=1).
^bTwo participants who had seen a doctor also indicated that the appointment had not been worth it.
^cOne participant who had seen a doctor also indicated that there had been significant language barriers during the encounter.
^d34/73 (47%) participants who were prescribed anti-malarial drugs from a health professional in Canada did use them during stay in malaria endemic areas, 39/73 (53%) participants did not.
^eOf the 155 participants, 58/155 used anti-malarial medication, 34/58 (59%) were prescribed medication by a health professional in Canada. 24/58 (41%) participants received anti-malarial medication through other ways. In the table above, we display 24/155 (15%) for all those who used anti-malarial medication that were not prescribed from a health professional in Canada.

ISSN: 1475-2875