title: Health Care Utilization and Attitudes Survey: understanding diarrheal disease in rural Gambia.
abstract: Diarrheal disease causes ∼1.34 million deaths per year among children under 5 years of age globally. We conducted a Health Care Utilization and Attitudes Survey of 1,012 primary caregivers of children aged 0-11, 12-23, and 24-59 months randomly selected from a Demographic Surveillance population in rural Gambia. Point prevalence of diarrhea was 7.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.1-9.8); 23.3% had diarrhea within the previous 2 weeks. Caregivers of 81.5% of children with diarrhea sought healthcare outside their home, but only 48.4% of them visited a health center. Only 17.0% (95% CI = 12.1-23.2) of children with diarrhea received oral rehydration solution (ORS) at home. Abbreviated surveys conducted on six occasions over the subsequent 2 years showed no change in prevalence or treatment-seeking behavior. Diarrhea remains a significant problem in rural young Gambian children. Encouraging care-seeking behavior at health centers and promoting ORS use can reduce mortality and morbidity in this population.
authors: Debasish
authors: D
authors: Saha
authors: Adebayo
authors: A
authors: Akinsola
authors: Katrina
authors: K
authors: Sharples
authors: Mitchell O
authors: MO
authors: Adeyemi
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Antonio
authors: Sayeed
authors: S
authors: Imran
authors: Momodou
authors: M
authors: Jasseh
authors: Mohammad J
authors: MJ
authors: Hossain
authors: Dilruba
authors: D
authors: Nasrin
authors: Karen L
authors: KL
authors: Kotloff
authors: Myron M
authors: MM
authors: Levine
authors: Philip C
authors: PC
authors: Hill
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D005714:Gambia / Q000453:epidemiology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population
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