• Luis Furuya-Kanamori, Deborah Mills, Sarah Sheridan, and Colleen Lau.
• Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Al Jamiaa Street, Doha 2713, Qatar.
• J Travel Med. 2017 Sep 1; 24 (5).

BackgroundGap year travellers can potentially be exposed to many infectious diseases and other travel-related health problems including injuries and psychological problems. Currently, there is little information on health and wellbeing of this particular group of travellers.MethodsParticipants were recruited from an organization that specialized in organising international gap year placements. Gap year travellers were asked to complete a pre-departure survey on demographics, placement destination and duration, previous travel experience, hobbies, risk taking behaviour, anticipated problems during the placement, and pre-travel preparations. After the placement, participants were asked to complete a post-trip survey on their experiences, problems, health issues, and medical treatment required.ResultsThe 88 and 34 gap year travellers aged 17-23 years completed pre- and post-placement surveys respectively. The duration of placements ranged from 3 to 12 months. Psychological stressors were frequently reported [ n = 26 (76.5%) felt home sick; n = 18 (52.9%) experienced culture shock; n = 17 (50.0%) had difficulty communicating with the locals]. The majority of participants (91.2%) tried to work out a solution for the stressor on their own. Twenty-eight (82.4%) participants reported medical problems during their placement; the most common problems were sunburn ( n = 19; 55.9%), respiratory infections ( n = 15; 44.1%), weight change ( n = 14; 41.2%), and diarrhoea/food poisoning ( n = 13; 38.2%). Three participants (3.4%) were admitted to hospital; for a muscle injury, head injury and skin infection after getting a tribal tattoo.ConclusionsPsychological stressors were common, but most did not seek help. Some medical problems encountered during their placement may have been preventable with improved pre-departure preparation.Key WordsGap year, pre-departure, preparation.© International Society of Travel Medicine, 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

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