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Article
Reporting of Foodborne Illness by U.S. Consumers and Healthcare Professionals
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
  • Susan W. Arendt, Iowa State University
  • Lakshman Rajagopal, Iowa State University
  • Catherine Strohbehn, Iowa State University
  • Nathan M. Stokes, Iowa State University
  • Janell R. Meyer, Iowa State University
  • Steven Mandernach, Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2013
DOI
10.3390/ijerph10083684
Abstract

uring 2009–2010, a total of 1,527 foodborne disease outbreaks were reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2013). However, in a 2011 CDC report, Scallan et al. estimated about 48 million people contract a foodborne illness annually in the United States. Public health officials are concerned with this under-reporting; thus, the purpose of this study was to identify why consumers and healthcare professionals don’t report foodborne illness. Focus groups were conducted with 35 consumers who reported a previous experience with foodborne illness and with 16 healthcare professionals. Also, interviews with other healthcare professionals with responsibility of diagnosing foodborne illness were conducted. Not knowing who to contact, being too ill, being unsure of the cause, and believing reporting would not be beneficial were all identified by consumers as reasons for not reporting foodborne illness. Healthcare professionals that participated in the focus groups indicated the amount of time between patients’ consumption of food and seeking treatment and lack of knowledge were barriers to diagnosing foodborne illness. Issues related to stool samples such as knowledge, access and cost were noted by both groups. Results suggest that barriers identified could be overcome with targeted education and improved access and information about the reporting process.

Comments

This article is from International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 10 (2013): 3684–3714, doi:10.3390/ijerph10083684.

Rights
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Copyright Owner
The authors
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Susan W. Arendt, Lakshman Rajagopal, Catherine Strohbehn, Nathan M. Stokes, et al.. "Reporting of Foodborne Illness by U.S. Consumers and Healthcare Professionals" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Vol. 10 Iss. 8 (2013) p. 3684 - 3714
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/susan_arendt/1/