Article Type: Original Article
Title: Identifying water sources, quality of drinking water, implications and prevalence of Gastrointestinal problems and its associated risk factors in a rural area of India: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional and Observational Study
Year: 2022; Volume: 2; Issue: 2; Page No: 4 – 13
Authors: Senthilvel Vasudevan1*
, Priyanka Raj C K2
Affiliations: 1*Assistant Professor of Statistics, Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 2Associate Professor, Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, National University of Science and Technology, Sohar, Sultanate of Oman.
Article Summary: Submitted: 10-April-2022; Revised: 12-May-2022; Accepted: 10-June-2022; Published: 30-June-2022
Corresponding Author:
Dr. Senthilvel Vasudevan,
Assistant Professor of Statistics (Biostatistics),
Department of Pharmacy Practice,
College of Pharmacy,
King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences,
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Email ID: vasudevans@ksau-hs.edu.sa
Abstract:
Background: Water is the most important and essential resource on earth. All creatures on earth depend on water. The quality of water is based on its physical, chemical and biological properties. Water quality plays a very important role in our health. Poor water quality can lead to many communicable and non-communicable diseases. In this study, we intend to identify water sources, quality of drinking water, its implications and the prevalence of Gastrointestinal problems and its associated risk factors in a 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: Our study revealed that the population used water from various sources like tap water, pump water, and other sources like streams, rivers, lakes and tanks in both villages. More than half of the study participants weren’t consuming safe water and didn’t have proper latrine facilities. A few 11% of the households had GI problems. This was probably due to consumption of unsafe water, not washing their hands before eating and not consuming boiled drinking water. The results of microbiological analysis of the water samples showed the water quality was unsatisfactory. The overall study report of physical analysis of water samples was satisfactory. Health education program and IEC activities were undertaken in the study areas to create health awareness regarding safe drinking water and impact of water borne diseases on health.
Keywords: water quality, prevalence, rural population, water quality, water borne diseases, community-based study
Conflict of Interest: There are no conflicts of interest to the authors
Source of funding: No funding received from the parent institution (or) from any other financial institution. We didn’t give any incentives to our study participants.
