Identifying water sources, quality of drinking water, implications and prevalence of Gastrointestinal problems and its associated risk factors in rural area of India: A Community Based Cross-Sectional and Observational Study

Abstract

Background: Water is the most common and essential resources on earth and there are no creatures without it in globe. The quality of drinking water is finding out from its physical, chemical and biological characteristics. In this study, we have to identify water sources, quality of drinking water, its implications and the prevalence of selected water borne disease in the study rural area of South India. Materials and Methods: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional and Observational Study of two villages namely Villipakkam and Puthirankottai was conducted with a sample of 1517 individuals were interviewed with a pre-tested pre-designed questionnaire. Results: In our study, we surveyed two villages with a total of 1517 study participants, of which 797 (52.5%) were females. Overall, 58 (11.8%) of the households had gastrointestinal (GI) problems in the last 3 months. 64.4% were consuming non-chlorinated water and 53.3% of household members didn’t consume boiled water. 68.7% didn’t had toilet facility. Variables like educational status, occupational status, boiling of drinking water, washing hands before eating, using pipe water for drinking purpose showed statistically significant association with people those who were affected by GI problem with p<0.05. The mean pH level was found as 7.14 ± 0.43 (6.50 – 7.65). Conclusion: From our study findings, we have concluded that half of the households were only used the pipe water for drinking purpose, weren’t consumed chlorinated water, didn’t drink hot water and didn’t have latrine facilities and awareness is needed to the community. Keywords: water quality, prevalence, rural population, water quality, water borne diseases, community-based study