Many travellers fail to take malaria chemoprophylaxis, despite receiving pre-travel advice. This study examined whether non-adherence could be predicted from verbal communication in the pre-travel consultation, and whether non-adherence was related to the quality of clinician-traveller communication. The consultations of one hundred and thirty consecutive travellers at a UK travel clinic were audiotaped and a follow-up telephone interview was used to assess adherence to malaria chemoprophylaxis. Experienced travel clinic staff were asked to predict adherence and rate the quality of communication from eighteen transcripts of consultations (nine good and nine poor adherence). Clinic staff predicted adherence to malaria chemoprophylaxis significantly better than chance. Poor adherence was related to poor quality communication. Clinic staff provided criteria for good quality clinician-traveller communication. It is concluded that predictors of non-adherence can be identified during the pre-travel consultation. Clinic staff could employ specific communication strategies to improve the effectiveness of consultations.
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