Comparison of fieldworker interview and a pictorial diary method for recording morbidity of infants in semi-urban slums

BMC Public Health

Gagandeep Kang¹  Jayaprakash Muliyil¹  Deepthi Kattula¹  Saravanakumar Puthupalayam Kaliappan¹  Vasanthakumar Velusamy¹  Karthikeyan Ramanujam¹  Rahul Jacob Thomas¹ 

[1] Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632004, TN, India

关键词: Agreement;    Kappa;    Pictorial diary;    Fieldworker;    India;    Slum;    Morbidity measurements;    Children;    Reliability;   

Others  :  1122822
DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-015-1372-7

 received in 2014-05-19, accepted in 2015-01-07,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

Cohort studies conducted in low-income countries generally use trained fieldworkers for collecting data on home visits. In industrialised countries, researchers use less resource intensive methods, such as self-administered structured questionnaires or symptom diaries. This study compared and assessed the reliability of the data on diarrhoea, fever and cough/cold in children as obtained by a pictorial diary maintained by the mother and collected separately by a fieldworker.

Methods

A sample of 205 children was randomly selected from an ongoing birth cohort study. Pictorial diaries were distributed weekly to mothers of study children who were asked to maintain a record of morbidity for four weeks. We compared the reliability and completeness of the data on diarrhoea, fever and cough/cold obtained by the two methods.

Results

Of 205 participants, 186 (91%) ever made a record in the diary and 62 (30%) mothers maintained the diary for all 28 days. The prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted kappa statistics for diarrhoea, fever, cough/cold and for a healthy child were 92%, 79%, 35% and 35% respectively.

Conclusion

Diary recording was incomplete in the majority of households. When recorded, the morbidity data by the pictorial diary method for acute illnesses were reliable. Strategies are needed to address behavioural factors affecting maternal recording such that field studies can obtain accurate morbidity measurements with limited resources.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Thomas et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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