Local concepts of anemia-related illnesses and public health implications in the Taabo health demographic surveillance system, Côte d’Ivoire

Table 5 Reported behaviors toward preventive measures against anemia in the Taabo HDSS, south-central Côte d’Ivoire

Characteristics	Women (N=115)				Children (N=200)
	Spontaneous n(%)	Probed n(%)	p(KW)	p(WRS)	Spontaneous n(%)	Probed n(%)	p(KW)	p(WRS)
Varied diet^a	26 (22.6)	82 (71.3)	0.122	0.206	46 (23.0)	121 (60.5)	0.402	0.048
Protection from malaria^b	15 (13.0)	90 (78.3)	0.053	0.395	15 (7.5)	158 (79.0)	0.110	0.899
Drink bissap	14 (12.2)	92 (80.0)	0.073	0.689	36 (18.0)	129 (64.5)	0.083	0.553
Eat meat, fish	16 (13.9)	76 (66.1)	0.046	0.191	10 (20.0)	132 (66.0)	0.448	0.058
Traditional medicine	4 (3.5)	95 (82.6)	0.417	0.641	2 (1.0)	143 (71.5)	0.005	0.267
Prayers, spiritual practices	0	65 (56.5)	0.005	0.014	5 (2.5)	124 (62.0)	<0.001	0.131
Good hygiene	3 (4.5)	0	0.443	0.707	13 (6.5)	N/A	0.075	0.983
Eat leafy vegetables	29 (25.2)	N/A	0.705	0.618	5 (2.5)	N/A	0.694	0.157
Drink Coca-Cola	9 (7.8)	N/A	0.022	0.238	13 (6.5)	N/A	0.001	0.985
Eat tomatoes	11 (9.6)	N/A	0.028	0.109	10 (5.0)	148 (74.0)	0.679	0.146
Visit health centers^c	32 (27.8)	76 (66.1)	0.106	0.433	34 (17.0)	132 (66.0)	0.110	0.794

Mean prominence of reported variables (coded 2 if spontaneously reported; 1, if reported after probing; and 0 if not reported) of women and children are reported. Mean prominence of reported variables have been compared across study settings and between people who had been exposed to prior research and those newly recruited with the Kruskal-Wallis (KW) and Wilcoxon rank-sum (WRS) tests, respectively, and associated p-values are reported. Multiple responses were permitted.
^a Spontaneous responses include “we shall eat enough/good food/vitamins”, “we shall watch for our alimentation” (see Discussion).
^b Three types of spontaneous answers are grouped here: “not walking under the sun”, “protection against djékouadjo”, and “protection against mosquitoes”.
^c People either mention “we shall do regular health check-up” or “we shall go to the doctor when we are ill”.
N/A, not applicable.

ISSN: 2052-1839