Journal of travel medicine
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Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is the most common form of illness at high altitude; however, it is still unclear whether age is a protective factor or a risk factor for the development of AMS in travellers. In recent decades, the number of travellers aged 60 years or older is increasing. Thus, the care of older travellers is a long-standing issue in travel medicine. ⋯ Although the approaches, methods and quality were heterogeneous among the included studies, 12 reported a negative correlation between AMS prevalence and age, 11 detected no relationship and three papers indicated that the age of AMS subjects was significantly higher than controls. Despite these differences, old age does not seem to be a contraindication for travelling at high altitude. Thus, the presented synthesis will be useful for health professionals in travel medicine to better tailor their appropriate care for older adults who travel to destinations at high altitude.
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Modern travel means that many travellers can arrive abruptly to high-altitude destinations without doing any trekking or climbing. Airports in high-altitude cities mean that travellers can go from sea level to over 3350-3960 m (11 000-13 000 feet) in a matter of hours, putting themselves at risk for high-altitude illness (HAI). ⋯ Travel medicine practitioners should become comfortable with assessing the risk of HAI and determining when it is appropriate to offer acetazolamide prophylaxis to prevent HAI.