Health Problems in hiking tours

Most (82 percent) of the responding hikers had one or more health problems on the trail.

Musculoskeletal problems, including leg and joint pain, were the most common complaints.

Blisters were the most common foot complaint (53 percent of hikers). Hikers reported a much higher frequency of blisters (53 percent) when they answered a structured question ("For how long during your hike did you suffer from foot blisters?") than when they answered an open-ended request to list any medical problems (only 9 percent listed blisters). We don't know whether it did not occur to them when asked the open-ended question, or whether they regarded blisters as so minor and universal as to not warrant mention. The latter suggests that there were probably other problems that were unreported.

Hikers had a high incidence of diarrhea, with 112 (62 percent) reporting at least one episode. "The majority of the gastrointestinal complaints, which affected 22 percent of the hikers, were general symptoms of gastroenteritis or diarrhea," the report said.

* Only 7 percent of hikers drank exclusively certified or treated water.

By Vernon G. Vernier, M.D., a.k.a. "Del Doc"