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Table 1 Travel characteristics and risk factors for travelers' diarrhea in a cohort of 390 Dutch travelers.

From: Inconvenience due to travelers' diarrhea: a prospective follow-up study

Characteristic

All n = 390

Classic TD n = 144

No TD n = 246

Univariate OR [95% CI]

p-value

Multivariate OR [95% CI]

Relative contribution of each characteristic to the model's R2 (%)

Gender, female 1

253 (65)

98 (68)

155 (63)

1.25 [0.81-1.93]

0.31

  

Age

    

< 0.001

 

18.6

   18-34 years

217 (56)

102 (71)

115 (47)

1.0

 

1.0

 

   ≥ 35 years

173 (44)

42 (29)

131 (53)

0.36 [0.23-0.56]

 

0.38 [0.23-0.65]

 

Use of an antacid 2

24 (6)

14 (10)

10 (4)

2.54 [1.10-5.88]

0.03

2.95 [1.14-7.60]

6.8

Born in the tropics 3

19 (5)

5 (3)

14 (6)

0.60 [0.21-1.69]

0.33

  

Traveled to the tropics in the preceding 5 years 4

251 (64)

91 (63)

160 (65)

0.92 [0.60-1.42]

0.71

  

Mean travel duration - days (SE)

22.9 (0.65)

25.6 (1.2)

21.4 (0.7)

1.03 [1.01-1.04]

0.002

1.02 [0.99-1.04]

2.7

Travel destination, Human Development Index

    

0.02

 

10.6

   High

79 (20)

18 (13)

61 (25)

1.0

 

1.0

 

   Medium

219 (56)

90 (63)

129 (54)

2.36 [1.31-4.27]

0.004

2.29 [1.22-4.33]

 

   Low

92 (24)

36 (25)

56 (23)

2.18 [1.11-4.27]

0.02

2.51 [1.19-5.33]

 

Main travel purpose 5

       

   Holiday

236 (61)

89 (62)

147 (60)

1.09 [0.72-1.66]

0.69

  

   Visit friends/relatives

55 (14)

13 (9)

42 (17)

0.48 [0.25-0.93]

0.03

0.56 [0.27-1.19]

3.3

   Business/professional

32 (8)

5 (4)

27 (11)

0.30 [0.11-0.81]

0.02

0.31 [0.11-0.88]

7.6

   Study

51 (13)

29 (20)

22 (9)

2.57 [1.41-4.67]

0.002

1.16 [0.56-2.40]

0.2

   Volunteer work

16 (4)

8 (6)

8 (3)

1.75 [0.64-4.77]

0.27

  

Type of travel 6

       

   Self-arranged, not backpacking

170 (44)

56 (39)

114 (46)

0.74 [0.49-1.12]

0.15

1.17 [0.68-2.01]

0.4

   Backpacking

85 (22)

44 (31)

41 (17)

2.20 [1.35-3.58]

0.002

1.89 [0.96-3.70]

4.5

   Organized group travel

108 (28)

37 (26)

71 (29)

0.85 [0.54-1.36]

0.50

  

   Other

27 (7)

7 (5)

20 (8)

0.58 [0.24-1.40]

0.23

  

Type of accommodation 7

       

   Luxury hotel only

98 (25)

43 (30)

55 (22)

1.48 [0.93-2.36]

0.10

2.94 [1.64-5.29]

18.2

   Budget hotel only

95 (24)

34 (24)

61 (25)

0.94 [0.58-1.52]

0.79

  

   Camping (tent/camper)

26 (7)

9 (6)

17 (7)

0.90 [0.39-2.07]

0.80

  

   Holiday home

15 (4)

5 (4)

10 (4)

0.85 [0.28-2.53]

0.77

  

   Stayed with friends or relatives

12 (3)

3 (2)

9 (4)

0.56 [0.15-2.10]

0.39

  

   Stayed with locals

13 (3)

8 (6)

5 (2)

2.84 [0.91-8.84]

0.07

2.91 [0.80-10.55]

3.4

   Combination of the above†

131 (34)

42 (29)

89 (36)

0.73 [0.47-1.13]

0.16

  

Diarrheal episode 2 months prior to departure*

    

0.003

  

   No

195/251 (78)

61/91 (67)

134/160 (84)

1.0

   

   Yes

56/251 (22)

30/91 (33)

26/160 (16)

2.54 [1.38-4.65]

   

Subjective susceptibility for travelers' diarrhea*

    

0.12

  

   Never

104/251 (41)

33/91 (36)

71/160 (44)

1.0

   

   Sometimes

121/251 (48)

44/91 (48)

77/160 (48)

1.23 [0.71-2.14]

0.47

  

   Often/Always

26/251(10)

14/91 (15)

12/160 (8)

2.51 [1.05-6.02]

0.04

  
  1. Data are presented as n (%), unless otherwise stated. OR: odds ratio; SE: standard error of the mean; CI: confidence interval. P-values based on χ2-tests for categorical variables and t-tests for continuous variables. Variables with p < 0.2 were included in the multivariate logistic regression model. Reference category: 1male gender, 2no use of an antacid, 3born in The Netherlands, 4not having traveled to the tropics in the preceding 5 years, 5not the specified travel purpose, 6not the specified type of travel, 7not having stayed in the specified type of accommodation. †Not included in the multivariate model because it is not a uniform category. *Not included in the multivariate logistic regression model because subjects who had not traveled to the tropics in the past 5 years had missing values for these variables. Model: constant = 0.19, Nagelkerke's R2 = 0.22, Hosmer and Lemeshow test for goodness of fit p = 0.4.
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BMC Infectious Diseases

ISSN: 1471-2334

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