Citation

Guptill KS, Hargarten SW, Baker TD. West. J. Med. 1991; 154(2): 169-171.

Affiliation

Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2006562

PMCID

PMC1002706

Abstract

About 3 to 4 million Americans travel to Mexico every year, yet their mortality experience has never been analyzed. Fatalities among US travelers to Mexico during the years 1975 and 1984 were examined using a previously unanalyzed data source. The leading cause of death to all US travelers to Mexico was injuries (51%), with 18% of deaths resulting from motor vehicle crashes. Of all travelers' deaths, 37% were due to circulatory diseases and less than 1% were due to infectious diseases. While the proportion of all deaths from motor vehicle crashes was similar for US citizens traveling in Mexico and US residents, travelers had significantly higher proportions of injury deaths due to aircraft crashes and drowning. Injury, rather than infectious diseases, appears to pose the greatest risk of death to travelers to Mexico. Physicians and travel clinics need to place greater emphasis on injury prevention when giving advice to clients traveling to Mexico.