Effects of residential features on active Keshan disease surveillance in endemic areas

  Objective  To explore effects of residential features on active Keshan disease (KD) surveillance, prevalence assessment, and population burden in endemic areas.

  Methods  We selected 5 villages in Fanrong country, Heilongjiang province. We collected and analyzed data of 3 421 registered residents and 2 235 permanent residents in December, 2015.

  Results  For the 5 villages, the outflow population accounted for 35.4% of the registered population. The proportion of outflow population was the highest (63.0%) among the registered residents aged 25 – 29 years, followed by the proportions of 55.9% and 50.6% among those aged 20 – 24 and 15 – 19 years; while, the lowest proportion was 13.2% among the registered population aged 55 – 64 years. The overall rate of response to a field survey of active surveillance was 29.9% (669/2 235) among the registered population and the top three response rates to the active surveillance were observed among the registered populations aged 40 – 44 (51.4%), 65 – 69 (50.3%), and 60 – 64 years old (50.0%). The coefficient of juvenile and elderly population were 13.2% and 18.5%; the ratio of old population to juvenile population was 139.9%.

  Conclusion  Skewed gender and age distribution and severe aging were observed in the population of KD endemic areas; the response rate to filed survey of KD active surveillance was low due to population characteristics in KD endemic areas. The results suggest that adjustment and standardization should be adopted in analyses on the data collected among the populations.