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Table 6 Symptoms, perceived causes, and self treatment for a cholera and a shigellosis vignette in Zanzibar, n = 356

From: Social and cultural features of cholera and shigellosis in peri-urban and rural communities of Zanzibar

  Only cholera vignetteb Only shigellosis vignetteb Both cholera & shigellosis vignettec   Kappa coefficiente
Categorya % % % p valued Estimate 95% CI
Somatic symptoms       
Abdominal pain/discomfort 24.2 38.2 13.2 < 0.001 0.18 0.08 - 0.28
Loose skin 18.3 5.6 3.4 < 0.001 0.21 0.09 - 0.34
Loss of appetite 11.8 13.5 3.1 0.467 0.14 0.01 - 0.26
Sunken eyes 29.5 8.4 5.1 < 0.001 0.16 0.06 - 0.25
Weakness 64.9 57.0 45.2 0.008 0.34 0.25 - 0.44
Other somatic symptoms 13.2 12.4 2.5 0.726 0.08 -0.04 - 0.20
Cannot say 18.5 22.8 9.8 0.087 0.34 0.23 - 0.46
Psycho-social problems       
Costs (transport, food, drugs) 19.1 20.8 12.6 0.405 0.54 0.43 - 0.65
Fear of infecting others 19.7 2.0 1.1 < 0.001 0.07 -0.01 - 0.15
Fear of isolation from others 14.3 4.2 2.0 < 0.001 0.16 0.03 - 0.29
Interference with social relationships 24.7 15.2 12.6 < 0.001 0.55 0.44 - 0.65
Interference with work/daily activities 70.5 61.8 53.9 0.001 0.46 0.35 - 0.55
Loss of family income 52.8 43.5 34.0 0.001 0.44 0.35 - 0.53
Sadness, anxiety, worry 59.3 58.7 47.2 0.827 0.51 0.42 - 0.60
Perceived causes       
Contact with contaminated water 27.5 2.8 1.7 < 0.001 0.06 -0.01 - 0.13
Dirty environment 71.6 32.6 28.4 < 0.001 0.17 0.11 - 0.25
Drinking contaminated water 30.6 21.6 9.6 0.003 0.15 0.04 - 0.26
Eating unprotected/spoiled food 30.1 29.8 12.1 0.929 0.15 0.04 - 0.26
Flies 30.3 13.2 5.9 < 0.001 0.11 0.01 - 0.21
God's will 10.1 13.8 3.9 0.085 0.24 0.10 - 0.38
Not washing hands 11.5 9.0 1.1 0.264 0.01 -0.10 - 0.12
Cannot say 7.3 23.0 5.6 < 0.001 0.29 0.18 - 0.41
Self treatment at home       
Antibiotics/drugs 11.0 20.5 3.4 < 0.001 0.08 -0.03 - 0.19
Doing nothing at home 23.9 20.2 10.4 0.154 0.32 0.21 - 0.44
Drinking more water or liquids 18.8 10.7 5.9 < 0.001 0.31 0.18 - 0.43
Herbal treatment 49.2 55.6 35.7 0.035 0.33 0.24 - 0.43
Oral rehydration therapy 11.0 5.9 2.8 0.004 0.28 0.12 - 0.44
  1. a Categories ordered alphabetically, except "cannot say". Categories reported by less than 5% of the sample for each vignette not listed; b Proportion of categories reported spontaneously for either cholera or shigellosis vignette; c Proportion of categories reported spontaneously for both vignettes; d McNemar's Chi2 test used to compare population proportions between both vignettes. Bold figures (p ≤ 0.05) indicate significant differences; e Kappa coefficients (presented with 95% confidence intervals) greater than or equal to 0.4 suggest no differentiation of illness categories (bold figures).
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BMC Infectious Diseases

ISSN: 1471-2334

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