A comparison of incidences of diarrhea between a population-based study and the disease surveillance system in Zhejiang province

Objective To compare the incidences of diarrhea between a population-based study and the disease surveillance system in Zhejiang Province.Methods With the sampling method of PPS and stratified multi-stage random cluster,eight communities and twelve villages from two cities were selected to conduct quarterly the household survey of diarrhea illness for one year.People aged 3months and above were selected to obtain all information with a standardized structured questionnaire by face-to-face interview.Data were analyzed with chi-square test to compare the incidence of diarrhea illness.Results Two-week incidence of diarrhea illness of the population in Zhejiang Province was 0.59percent and the corresponding rate of diarrhea per person per year was 0.15.The peak season were summer and autumn in children5years,while the peak season were winter and spring in older people above 45years.Older people above 60years and scattered children5years were high-risk population and the two-week incidences of diarrhea illness were 0.88%and 2.28%.The incidence of diarrhea illness of the population was 2.48times that from the disease surveillance system during the same period in the same region.Conclusions The incidence of diarrhea illness was lower among population in Zhejiang province.Older people above 45years and scattered children5years were high-risk population and they should be given more care.Management of disease surveillance should be strengthened in rural areas because of the more omission of infectious diarrhea.