Barriers to malaria prevention among immigrant travelers in the United States who visit friends and relatives in sub-Saharan Africa: A cross-sectional, multi-setting survey of knowledge, attitudes, and practices.
Hannah R VolkmanEmily J WalzDanushka WanduragalaElizabeth SchiffmanAnne FroschJonathan D AlpernPatricia F WalkerKristina M AngeloChristina CoyleMimi A MohamudEsther MwangiJoseline Haizel-CobbinaComfort NchanjiRebecca S JohnsonBaninla LadzeStephen J DunlopWilliam M StaufferPublished in: PloS one (2020)
We observed heterogeneity in malaria prevention behaviors among VFRs and between VFR and non-VFR traveler populations. Although VFRs attending the travel health clinic appear to demonstrate better adherence to malaria prevention measures than VFR counterparts surveyed in the community, specialized pretravel care is not sufficient to ensure chemoprophylaxis use and bite avoidance behaviors among VFRs. Even when seeking specialized pretravel care, VFRs experience greater barriers to the use of malaria prevention than non-VFRs. Addressing access to health care and upstream barrier reduction strategies that make intended prevention more achievable, affordable, easier, and resonant among VFRs may improve malaria prevention intervention effectiveness.