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Burden of Self-reported Acute Gastrointestinal Illness in Cuba
- Source :
- Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition
- Publication Year :
- 2009
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2009.
-
Abstract
- Acute gastrointestinal illness is an important public-health issue worldwide. Burden-of-illness studies have not previously been conducted in Cuba. The objective of the study was to determine the magnitude, distribution, and burden of self-reported acute gastrointestinal illness in Cuba. A retrospective, cross-sectional survey was conducted in three sentinel sites during June-July 2005 (rainy season) and during November 2005–January 2006 (dry season). Households were randomly selected from a list maintained by the medical offices in each site. One individual per household was selected to complete a questionnaire in a face-to-face interview. The case definition was three or more bouts of loose stools in a 24-hour period within the last 30 days. In total, 97.3% of 6,576 interviews were completed. The overall prevalence of acute gastrointestinal illness was 10.6%. The risk of acute gastrointestinal illness was higher during the rainy season (odds ratio [OR]=3.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.18-4.66) in children (OR=3.12, 95% CI 2.24-4.36) and teens (OR=2.27, 95% CI 1.51-3.41) compared to people aged 25-54 years, in males (OR=1.24, 95% CI 1.04-1.47), and in the municipality of Santiago de Cuba (OR=1.33, 95% CI 1.11-1.61). Of 680 cases, 17.1-38.1% visited a physician, depending on sentinel site. Of the cases who visited a physician, 33.3-53.9% were requested to submit a stool sample, and of those, 72.7-100.0% complied. Of the cases who sought medical care, 16.7- 61.5% and 0-31.6% were treated with antidiarrhoeals and antibiotics respectively. Acute gastrointestinal illness represented a substantial burden of health compared to developed countries. Targeting the identified risk factors when allocating resources for education, food safety, and infrastructure might lower the morbidity associated with acute gastrointestinal illness.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Pediatrics
Self Disclosure
Adolescent
Epidemiology
Gastrointestinal Diseases
Cross-sectional study
Seasonal variation
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Prevalence
Developing countries
Young Adult
Age Distribution
Cost of Illness
Risk Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
medicine
Humans
Young adult
Child
Retrospective Studies
Public health
business.industry
Infant, Newborn
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Cuba
Infant
Retrospective cohort study
Odds ratio
Middle Aged
Original Papers
Diarrhoea
Confidence interval
Cross-Sectional Studies
Child, Preschool
Acute Disease
Sentinel sites
Female
Seasons
business
Sentinel Surveillance
Food Science
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 16060997
- Volume :
- 27
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....f68fc8be499b88e65c62d0e6f34d4746