Health-related lifestyle and patterns of behavior related to health effects of leisure travel

Whether or not leisure travel might have positive effects on personal health was investigated. During a short leisure trip, saliva samples were collected from 40 females. Levels of salivary cortisol and chromogranin A (CgA) were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). To quantitatively evaluate the health-related lifestyle and the patterns of behavior of the subjects, we also administered written questionnaires. For samples taken during the trip, there was a significant increase in the levels of CgA. Meanwhile, there was a significant increase in the levels of cortisol after the tour. These tendencies were more pronounced in individuals who scored well for health-related lifestyle. These findings suggest that the effects of travel were more beneficial for persons with positive characteristics related to health-related lifestyle.