Longitudinal study on the health status of children in a rural Tanzanian community: comparison of community-based clinical examinations, the diseases seen at village health posts and the perception of health problems by the population
Degrémont, A.; Lwihula, G.K.; Mayombana, C.; Burnier, E.; de Savigny, D.; Tanner, M.
Acta Tropica 44(2): 175-190
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0001-706X PMID: 2891268 Document Number: 271239
Standardised household interviews among adults and children, open-ended questionnaires, and clinical examinations administered during cross-sectional health status surveys, as well as the registers of village health posts (VHP), were used to assess the pattern of health problems of a rural community in southeastern Tanzania. All 4 approaches gave very similar results for the 2 major health problems (fever/malaria and abdominal pain or discomfort) which were mentioned by both children and adults. The parasitological data from the cross-sectional surveys also revealed hyperendemic P. falciparum malaria and a high prevalence and incidence for infections with Necator americanus, Strongyloides and Giardia lamblia. Both questionnaire approaches and the registers of VHP showed a change in both the morbidity and the disease perception pattern that may reflect the effects of interventions launched at community level (activities of village health workers, mass-treatment against hookworm and G. lamblia). The study indicated that the individual ranking of the major health problems matched with data from health status surveys. It also pointed to the possibility that disease perception patterns could become a tool for community diagnosis and for the monitoring of health care programmes.