Travel Medicine Research Priorities: Establishing an Evidence BaseArchived
This article is intended for an audience of researchers and research funding agencies. The authors, a working group from The Research Committee of the International Society of Travel Medicine, discuss the numerous published studies that provide evidence for the practice of travel medicine.
Talbot EA, Chen LH, Sanford C, McCarthy A, Leder K; Research Committee of International Society of Travel Medicine.J Travel Med 2010; 17: 410–415
Description: This article is intended for an audience of researchers and research funding agencies. The authors, a working group from The Research Committee of the International Society of Travel Medicine, discuss the numerous published studies that provide evidence for the practice of travel medicine. They identified an initial list of research priorities through an interactive process that included e-mails, phone calls, and smaller meetings. Twenty-five research priorities were identified and categorized as pre-travel interventions, safety during travel, and post-travel management.
Public Health significance: The study of travellers’ health poses unique challenges. Travellers generally have a defined and identifiable period of risk (eg, their trip) which makes some research questions easier to address. The authors have described a list of possible research interventions that will help to expand the evidence base in travel medicine, which in turn will support decision-making in this field of public health. The list is not exhaustive, but is a good starting point to promote independent evidence based research in the field. As part of its commitment to research activities, ISTM advocates creation and distribution of this statement of research priorities.