Perceived malaria illness reports in mobile populations

The rapid influx of nonimmune migrants to the Amazon and the need to minimize the number of days productive workers cannot work justifies rapid and defensible assessment of the demand for health services a high priority.

Abstract

Coverage of a representative sample of border or frontier populations by blood samples is not logistically feasible. Thus the assessment of the extent of malaria illness and the potential demand for malaria-specific health services requires the collection of both direct and indirect perceived malaria illness reports. Indirect reports, the basis on which representative population coverage rests, are provided by members of the respondent's household who are questioned by an interviewer. We assess the performance of perceived malaria illness reports using data from a field study conducted in the State of Para, Brazil, in 1984. Directions for future research on illness reporting in mobile population are presented in the context of experience acquired with settlement programmes in the Brazilian Amazon region.