MacDonald Madeline, Phan Jessica T, Chen Liwei, Jarvill Taylor L, Yee Stephanie, Wells Paul J, Mhaskar Rahul
Internal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, USA.
Medical Education, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, USA.
Cureus. 2020 Dec 2;12(12):e11852. doi: 10.7759/cureus.11852.
Introduction There are more than 6,000 international medical mission trips that are conducted annually by United States medical teams. Successfully planning a medical mission trip relies on careful preparation. The objective of this study is to elucidate common chief concerns, diagnoses, and prescription patterns so that medical mission trip teams can effectively prepare for future medical mission trips in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, or similar international sites. Methods A retrospective chart review of 940 patient charts was conducted from two University of South Florida Latino Medical Student Association medical mission trips to Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic (DR) that took place during October 2017 and 2018. A coding system was utilized to categorize the data. The most common chief concerns, diagnoses, and medications prescribed were revealed. Findings were stratified further by age (<18 vs ≥18 years old) and sex. Results Our study reveals that 68.6% (n=597/870) of the patients were female and 59.2% (n=161/870) of males were under 18. The most common chief concerns were "cold/flu" (33.2%,n=289/870), gastrointestinal problems (20.3%, n=177/870), headache (20.0%, n=174/870), and musculoskeletal problems (12.0%, n=104/870). The most common diagnoses were viral syndrome (25.4%, n=221/870), presumed parasitic infection (16.9%, n=147/870), hypertension (12.6%, n=110/870), headache (10.6%, n=92/870), and musculoskeletal disorder (8.5%, n=74/870). The most frequently prescribed medications were acetaminophen (18.3%, n=291/1,587), albendazole (15.2%, n=241/1,587), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (10.5%, n=166/1,587), antihistamines (6.1%, n=97/1,587), and antibiotics (5.9%, n=93/1,587). Conclusions Our study reveals potential areas for improvement of an annual, medical student-run medical mission trip to Jarabacoa, DR. Dedicated efforts should be made to address long-term management of chronic conditions identified or treated on medical mission trips. Community partnerships should be established to facilitate this. We hope this will encourage other medical mission trip teams to analyze their data in order to be more prepared for their trips.
引言 美国医疗队每年开展6000多次国际医疗援助之旅。成功规划一次医疗援助之旅依赖于精心准备。本研究的目的是阐明常见的主要担忧、诊断结果和处方模式，以便医疗援助之旅团队能够有效地为未来前往多米尼加共和国哈拉巴科阿或类似国际地点的医疗援助之旅做好准备。方法 对2017年10月和2018年期间南佛罗里达大学拉丁裔医学生协会前往多米尼加共和国哈拉巴科阿的两次医疗援助之旅中的940份患者病历进行回顾性图表审查。使用编码系统对数据进行分类。揭示了最常见的主要担忧、诊断结果和所开药物。研究结果按年龄（<18岁与≥18岁）和性别进一步分层。结果 我们的研究表明，68.6%（n=597/870）的患者为女性，59.2%（n=161/870）的男性年龄在18岁以下。最常见的主要担忧是“感冒/流感”（33.2%，n=289/870）、胃肠道问题（20.3%，n=177/870）、头痛（20.0%，n=174/870）和肌肉骨骼问题（12.0%，n=104/870）。最常见的诊断结果是病毒综合征（25.4%，n=221/870）、疑似寄生虫感染（16.9%，n=147/870）、高血压（12.6%，n=110/870）、头痛（10.6%，n=92/870）和肌肉骨骼疾病（8.5%，n=74/870）。最常开具的药物是对乙酰氨基酚（18.3%，n=291/1587）、阿苯达唑（15.2%，n=241/1587）、非甾体抗炎药（NSAIDs）（10.5%，n=166/1587）、抗组胺药（6.1%，n=97/1587）和抗生素（5.9%，n=93/1587）。结论 我们的研究揭示了前往多米尼加共和国哈拉巴科阿的由医学生组织的年度医疗援助之旅中可能需要改进的领域。应做出专门努力来解决在医疗援助之旅中确诊或治疗的慢性病的长期管理问题。应建立社区伙伴关系以促进此事。我们希望这将鼓励其他医疗援助之旅团队分析他们的数据，以便为他们的旅行做好更充分的准备。
