Table 1.
Demographic and selected behavioural factors of the travellers' cohort.
| Total | subgroups | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TD n = 962 |
mild diarrhoea n = 303 |
no diarrhoea abroad n = 1535 |
Classic TD n = 785 |
||
| Sex | n = 2800 | ||||
| Female | 1406 (50.2) | 466 (33.1) | 151 (10.7) | 789 (56.1) | 400 (28.4) |
| Male | 1394 (49.8) | 496 (35.6) | 152 (10.9) | 746 (53.5) | 385 (27.6) |
| Age group, years 1) | n = 2672 | ||||
| 18-30 | 829 (31.0) | 338 (40.8) | 93 (11.2) | 389 (46.9) | 292 (35.2) |
| 31-40 | 882 (33.0) | 283 (32.1) | 102 (11.6) | 497 (56.3) | 230 (26.1) |
| 41-60 | 734 (27.5) | 242 (33.0) | 76 (10.4) | 416 (56.7) | 186 (25.3) |
| >60 | 227 (8.5) | 55 (24.2) | 18 (7.9) | 154 (67.8) | 40 (17.6) |
| Origin (first 5 years of life) | n = 2764 | ||||
| European | 2616 (94.6) | 899 (34.4) | 287 (11.0) | 1430 (54.7) | 734 (28.0) |
| TD high risk country2) | 75 (2.7) | 25 (33.3) | 6 (8.0) | 44 (58.7) | 19 (25.3) |
| other | 73 (2.6) | 24 (32.9) | 8 (10.9) | 41 (56.2) | 19 (26.0) |
| Education | n = 2745 | ||||
| Vocational school level 1 3) | 588 (21.4) | 196 (33.3) | 71 (12.1) | 324 (55.1) | 151 (25.7) |
| Vocational school level 2 4) | 754 (27.5) | 258 (34.2) | 75 (9.9) | 421 (55.8) | 212 (28.1) |
| University | 1403 (51.1) | 504 (35.9) | 152 (10.8) | 758 (54.0) | 407 (29.0) |
| Destination5) | n = 2790 | ||||
| Africa | 903 (32.4) | 313 (34.7) | 107 (11.8) | 483 (53.5) | 246 (27.2) |
| Asia | 1266 (45.4) | 407 (32.1) | 126 (10.0) | 733 (57.9) | 335 (26.5) |
| Latin America | 617 (22.1) | 234 (37.9) | 70 (11.3) | 313 (50.7) | 202 (32.7) |
| Travel type | n = 1750 | ||||
| Tourism | 1539 (87.9) | 545 (35.4) | 173 (11.2) | 821 (53.3) | 444 (28.8) |
| Family/VFR | 90 (5.1) | 42 (46.6) | 15 (16.6) | 33 (36.7) | 36 (40.0) |
| Business | 121 (10.8) | 37 (30.6) | 10 (8.3) | 74 (61.2) | 27 (22.3) |
| Travel duration, weeks 1) | n = 2800 | ||||
| mean ± sd | 3.2 ± 1.6 | 3.6 ± 1.9 | 3.2 ± 1.6 | 3.0 ± 1.4 | 3.7 ± 1.9 |
| median (range) | 3 (1-8) | 3 (1-8) | 3 (1-8) | 3 (1-8) | 3 (1-8) |
| 1-3 weeks | 1849 (66.0) | 560 (30.3) | 206 (11.1) | 1083 (58.6) | 447 (24.2) |
| 3.5 -5 weeks | 674 (24.1) | 249 (36.9) | 74 (11.0) | 351 (52.1) | 205 (82.3) |
| 5.5-8 weeks | 277 (9.9) | 153 (55.2) | 23 (8.3) | 101 (36.5) | 133 (48.0) |
| History of travel | n = 2768 | ||||
| Experienced | 2560 (92.5) | 867 (33.9) | 275 (10.7) | 1418 (55.4) | 706 (27.6) |
| Newcomer (first such journey) | 208 (7.5) | 84 (40.4) | 24 (11.5) | 100 (48.1) | 70 (33.6) |
| Smoking habits | |||||
| n = 2788 | |||||
| previous smoker | 1041 (37.3) | 369 (35.4) | 100 (9.6) | 572 (54.9) | 299 (28.7) |
| previous non-smoker | 1747 (62.7) | 590 (33.7) | 201 (11.5) | 956 (54.7) | 483 (27.6) |
| n = 2793 | |||||
| smoker | 872 (31.2) | 314 (36.0) | 81 (9.3) | 477 (54.7) | 263 (30.2) |
| non-smoker | 1921 (68.8) | 644 (33.5) | 221 (11.5) | 477 (24.8) | 519 (27.0) |
| Daily alcohol consumption | n = 2790 | ||||
| yes | 594 (21.3) | 200 (33.7) | 70 (11.8) | 324 (54.5) | 161 (27.1) |
| >1 glass daily | 90 (15.4) | 32 (35.6) | 10 (11.1) | 48 (53.3) | 24 (26.7) |
| no | 2196 (78.7) | 757 (34.5) | 231 (10.5) | 324 (14.7) | 620 (28.2) |
NOTE. TD is travellers' diarrhoea, three or more unformed stools with or without additional symptom, classic TD with at least one accompanying symptom, mild diarrhoea one or two unformed stools per 24 hours. VFR is visiting friends and relatives.
1) Significant. Chi square test, p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. TD patients were compared to those with no diarrhoea abroad. All other factors not significant.
2) Defined by Steffen et al. [2,4]
3) Swiss obligatory school to apprenticeship school
4) Swiss Matura (baccalaureat, general qualification for university access) and federal diplomas
5) Oceania was omitted as only 4 travellers had visited this region