The underreporting of childhood diarrhea in Thailand

Abstract

The extent of non-recognition of episodes of diarrhea by mothers was investigated. The sample included all 124 children under 3 years of age and their mothers or caretakers in 16 villages of Soong Noen District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. Data on the occurrence of diarrhea were obtained from an on-going surveillance study from December 1988 through February 1989. The surveillance study recorded all episodes of diarrhea, as defined by health professionals. Unrecognized diarrhea was defined as episodes perceived by mother, father and caretaker as a normal development process, namely 'su' or 'po'. Baseline characteristics of the sample were obtained from a community survey conducted in November 1988. The study showed that about half of the episodes of diarrhea were unrecognized as diarrhea by the mother and caretaker and labeled as 'su' or 'po' at onset, and among this group only 11.5% were later recognized as diarrheal disease.