Adherence To Malaria Prophylaxis Among Peace Corps Volunteers in the Africa Region, 2013

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Travel Med Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Landman, Keren Z. ; Tan, Kathrine R. ; Arguin, Paul M.
• Description:
  Background
  
  Although malaria can be prevented with prophylaxis, it is diagnosed in over 100 Africa-region Peace Corps Volunteers annually. This suggests that prophylaxis non-adherence is a problem in these non-immune travelers.
  
  Methods
  
  We investigated Volunteers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding prophylaxis using an internet-based survey during August 19–September 30, 2013. Adherence was defined as taking doxycycline or atovaquone-proguanil daily, or taking mefloquine doses no more than 8 days apart.
  
  Results
  
  The survey was sent to 3,248 Volunteers. Of 781 whose responses were analyzed, 514 (73%) reported adherence to prophylaxis. The most common reasons for non-adherence were forgetting (n=530, 90%); fear of long-term adverse effects (LTAEs; n=316, 54%); and experiencing adverse events that Volunteers attributed to prophylaxis (n=297, 51%). Two hundred fourteen (27%) Volunteers reported not worrying about malaria. On multivariate analysis controlling for sex and experiencing adverse events Volunteers attributed to prophylaxis, the factor most strongly associated with non-adherence was being prescribed mefloquine (OR 5.4, 95% confidence interval 3.2–9.0).
  
  Conclusions
  
  We found moderate adherence and a prevailing fear of LTAEs among Volunteers. Strategies to improve prophylaxis adherence may include medication reminders, increasing education about prophylaxis safety and malaria risk, and promoting prompt management of prophylaxis side effects.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Antimalarials Atovaquone Data Collection Doxycycline Drug Combinations Female Humans Internet Malaria Male Medication Adherence Mefloquine Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Proguanil Surveys And Questionnaires Volunteers

  More +
• Source:
  Travel Med Infect Dis. 13(1):61-68.
• Pubmed ID:
  25534297
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4834847
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Name as Subject:
  Peace Corps (U.S.) ; Peace Corps (U.S.)
• Place as Subject:
  Africa ; United States
• Volume:
  13
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:73096672507dca3ae32d0cce7bb61557d16e4f240e291dbbd035cba8648db28a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/38971/cdc_38971_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 91.58 KB ]