LAUSR

BACKGROUND Medical problems are prevalent among young travellers. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the impact of country-specific pre-departure preparation in the occurrence of medical and psychological problems among Australian gap year. METHODS Participants were recruited during two periods, 2013-14 and 2017-18 from an organisation that specialises in gap year placements. Based on results of our previous study of the 2013-14 cohort, improvements in the pre-departure preparation were introduced. Demographic, placement, and pre-departure preparation characteristics as well as psychological stressors, coping mechanisms, and medical problems were collected and compared between the two cohorts. RESULTS Demographic and placement characteristics were similar between the two cohorts. There was a significant increase in the proportion of travellers that read the briefing material (from 80% to 100%; p-value<0.001), carried a first aid kit (from 26% to 62%; p-value<0.001), and accessed information on how to deal with common health problems (from 46% to 61%; p-value = 0.047). All psychological stressors decreased, except for feeling home sick that remained high (72%). Medical problems remained prevalent; half of the gap year travellers sought medical attention, yet there was a significant reduction in sunburn (from 59% to 37%; p-value = 0.040), diarrhoea/food poisoning (from 44% to 21%; p-value = 0.015), weight change (from 41% to 16%; p-value = 0.006), and skin infections (from 38% to 9%; p-value<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Gap year travellers are exposed to a wide range of health risks and experience higher proportion of medical problems than standard tourists. A comprehensive country-specific pre-departure preparation had a positive impact on the gap year travellers' wellbeing.