Medical Problems of Way of St. James Pilgrimage

It appears that the El Camino pilgrimage route has become a long-distance trek and endurance test of the individual. The continuously increasing number of hikers demands more attention by travel medicine professionals. Analysis of the age groups of the pilgrims over recent years shows that the numbe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion and health
Main Author: Felkai, Peter (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V. [2019]
In: Journal of religion and health
Further subjects:B El Camino
B Pilgrimage
B Morbidity of pilgrimage
B Pre-travel advice
B Mortality of pilgrimage
B Travel medicine
B St. James Way
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:It appears that the El Camino pilgrimage route has become a long-distance trek and endurance test of the individual. The continuously increasing number of hikers demands more attention by travel medicine professionals. Analysis of the age groups of the pilgrims over recent years shows that the number of young pilgrims (< 30 years) is decreasing, but the number of middle-aged people (30-60 years) is slightly increasing, while the number of elderly people (> 60 years) is considerably increased. The leading cause of fatalities during the pilgrimage is ACS. The majority of the cardiac problems occur among the elderly people. The second most common cause of death is a traffic accident, and the third and fourth causes are a fatal exacerbation of the pilgrim's pre-existing disease and illnesses caused by the extreme temperature (hot and cold environment alike). The aforementioned data suggest that pre-travel advice should be an indispensable part of the preparation for the El Camino peregrination, especially for the patient with chronic disease and elderly people.
ISSN:1573-6571
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10943-018-00744-z