Study on present status of rural environmental sanitation and its effects on gastrointestinal symptoms of residents in Chongqing Municipality, China

Objective To investigate household environmental sanitation and gastrointestinal symptoms in rural areas of Chongqing Municipality, China, and to provide a scientific basis for improving rural environmental sanitation, preventing and controlling gastrointestinal symptoms, and promoting resident health.

Methods From June to August of 2020, a multi-stage sampling method was used to randomly select 2 000 rural households in 20 districts and counties of Chongqing for the investigation of environmental sanitation and gastrointestinal symptoms, and R software was used to perform a statistical analysis of the influencing factors for the incidence rate of gastrointestinal symptoms.

Results A total of 2 000 rural households were surveyed. Centralized water supply was the main type of drinking water in 1 433 households (71.65%), sanitary toilets were used in 1 773 households (88.65%), and pipes were the main method for domestic sewage discharge in 863 households (43.15%). Of all the households surveyed, 713 (35.65%) were found to have cockroach adults or nymphs in the kitchen, 491 (24.55%) were found to have cockroach traces, 824 (41.20%) were found to have rat traces, and 1 192 (59.60%) were found to have flies. Mosquito larvae were found in containers in 307 households (15.35%), and 1 459 households (72.95%) were found to have vector breeding sites around their houses. In the past two weeks, the family members of 81 households experienced diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever or new-onset intestinal infections, with an incidence rate of 4.05%. The multivariate regression analysis showed that the presence or absence of flies in the kitchen was an influencing factor for the incidence rate of gastrointestinal symptoms in rural households (odds ratio=1.963, 95%CI: 1.094-3.282).

Conclusion The sanitation status of family kitchens needs to be further improved in rural areas of Chongqing. There is a relatively high incidence rate of gastrointestinal symptoms among family members, which makes it necessary to further promote the improvement of water supply and toilets sanitation, and strengthen the efforts to eliminate the four hazards, with a focus on eliminating flies and other vectors and cleaning up the breeding environment around the household.