Abstract
Diarrhoea is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries in Africa and South Asia such as India. Prevalence of diarrheal diseases in those countries is higher than developed western world and largely has been associated with socio-economic and sanitary conditions. However, present available data has not been sufficiently evaluated to study the role of other factors like healthcare development, population density, sex and regional influence on diarrheal prevalence pattern. Study was performed to understand the relationship of diarrheal prevalence with specific measures namely; healthcare services development, demographics, population density, socio-economic conditions, sex, and regional prevalence patterns in India. Data from Annual national health reports and other epidemiological studies were included and statistically analyzed. Our results demonstrate significant correlation of the disease prevalence pattern with certain measures like healthcare centers, population growth rate, sex and region-specific morbidity. Available information on sanitation like water supply and toilet availability and socioeconomic conditions like poverty and literacy measures could only be associated as trends of significance. This study can be valuable for improvisation of appropriate strategies focused on important measures like healthcare resources, population growth and regional significances to evaluate prevalence patterns and management of the diarrhoea locally and globally.
Highlights
Diarrheal disease prevalence has become a global health concern in the last few decades
Our results demonstrate significant correlation of the disease prevalence pattern with certain measures like healthcare centers, population growth rate, sex and region-specific morbidity
From the previous studies conducted worldwide, it is well known that certain factors such as poor sanitation, education, poverty, health infrastructure and socio-economic conditions play a major role in one or other way to the infectious disease prevalence [16,17,18,19,20]
Summary
Diarrheal disease prevalence has become a global health concern in the last few decades. Contaminated food and water supply are the most common causes of the diarrheal diseases and can be attributed to viral, bacterial or parasitic ingestion. In 1998, diarrhoea was estimated to have killed 2.2 million people worldwide [1]. Prevalence of diarrhoea is multi factorial and relies upon many factors like climate, host factor, pathogen virulence, poor hygiene and socioeconomic conditions. Incidents in developing countries are much higher due to poor hygienic conditions, sanitation and limited access to healthcare services. International efforts to decrease the morbidity and mortality include World Health Organization’s initiative for a Diarrheal Diseases Control Program, whose objectives are to reduce diarrheal outbreaks espe-
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