The provision of sexual and reproductive health information and services to travellers: an exploratory survey of Australian travel medicine clinicians

Sarah Warzywoda; James A. Fowler; Joe Debattista; Deborah J. Mills; Luis Furuya-Kanamori; Jo Durham; Colleen L. Lau; Amy B. Mullens; Satrio Nindyo Istiko; Carlos Santaolaya; Juhi Malhotra; Judith A. Dean

doi:10.1071/SH23098

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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The provision of sexual and reproductive health information and services to travellers: an exploratory survey of Australian travel medicine clinicians

Sarah Warzywoda

^A ^* , James A. Fowler

^A , Joe Debattista ^B , Deborah J. Mills ^C ^D , Luis Furuya-Kanamori ^D , Jo Durham ^E , Colleen L. Lau ^D , Amy B. Mullens

^F , Satrio Nindyo Istiko ^A , Carlos Santaolaya ^A , Juhi Malhotra

^A and Judith A. Dean

^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.

^B Metro North Public Health Unit, Metro North Hospital and Health Service, Windsor, Qld, Australia.

^C Dr Deb The Travel Doctor, Travel Medicine Alliance, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.

^D UQ Centre for Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Herston, Qld, Australia.

^E School of Public Health and Social Work, Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation (AusHSI), Centre for Healthcare Transformation, Faculty of Health Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Qld, Australia.

^F School of Psychology and Wellbeing, Centre for Health Research, Institute for Resilient Regions, University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich, Qld, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: s.warzywoda@uq.edu.au

Handling Editor: Michael Marks

Sexual Health 21, SH23098 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH23098

Submitted: 18 May 2023 Accepted: 14 December 2023 Published: 15 January 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background

International travel can increase the risk of exposure to infectious diseases including sexually transmissible infections (STI). Pre-travel medical consultation provides an opportunity for travel-related health risk assessments and advice. This study explored how travel medicine clinicians integrate sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services into clinical practice.

Methods

A convenience sample of travel medicine clinicians completed a cross-sectional survey online or via hard-copy disseminated at an annual national Australian travel medicine conference.

Results

Of the 67 respondents, most (n, 51; 76.1%) had a postgraduate qualification relevant to travel medicine and 55.2% (n, 37) had worked in travel medicine for over 10 years. Only 22.4% (n, 15) reported conducting a SRH history/STI risk assessment for all travel patients. STI testing pre-departure was conducted on patient request (48, 71.6%), if symptomatic (32, 47.8%) or based on risk history (28, 41.8%). SRH information pre-departure was most frequently provided if prompted by patient questions (n, 42; 62.7%), or based on the patient’s history (n, 37; 55.2%). Over half the sample (n, 40; 59.7%) expressed interest in further training in SRH.

Conclusion

Providing and engaging with additional training may assist travel medicine clinicians to take a more proactive approach to SRH consultations and STI testing. Additional research is needed to explore models of care that will allow comprehensive SRH and STI services to be integrated into standard pre- and post-travel care.

Keywords: blood-borne virus, post-exposure prophylaxis, pre-exposure prophylaxis, pre-travel consultation, prevention, sexual and reproductive health, sexually transmitted infection, travel medicine.

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