Description: The Impact of Recall Periods on Reported Morbidity and Health Seeking Behavior

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The Impact of Recall Periods on Reported Morbidity and Health Seeking Behavior

Between 2000 and 2002, the authors followed 1621 individuals in Delhi, India using a combination of weekly and monthly-recall health questionnaires. In 2008, they augmented these data with another 8 weeks of surveys during which households were...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Das, Jishnu, Hammer, Jeffrey, Sánchez-Paramo, Carolina
Language:	English
Published:	2012
Subjects:	ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE ACUTE ILLNESSES AILMENT AILMENTS ALLOPATHIC MEDICINE AMBULATORY MEDICAL CARE ASTHMA CHRONIC ILLNESS CHRONIC ILLNESSES DEBT DIABETES DIAGNOSIS DISABILITY DISEASE DISEASE BURDEN DOCTOR DOCTORS DRINKING WATER DYSENTERY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EMPLOYMENT EXPENDITURES FAMILIES FATIGUE FEMALE FLUSH TOILETS GENDER HEALTH BEHAVIOR HEALTH BURDEN HEALTH BURDENS HEALTH CARE HEALTH CARE ACCESS HEALTH CARE DEMAND HEALTH CARE EXPENDITURES HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION HEALTH CONDITIONS HEALTH ECONOMICS HEALTH EXPENDITURE HEALTH EXPENDITURES HEALTH INEQUALITY HEALTH INSURANCE HEALTH ORGANIZATION HEALTH OUTCOMES HEALTH SEEKING BEHAVIOR HEALTH SERVICES HEALTH STATUS HEALTH SURVEYS HEALTH WORKERS HEALTH-SEEKING BEHAVIOR HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE HOUSEHOLDS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN RESOURCES ILLNESS ILLNESSES INCOME INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS INFECTIONS LOCALITIES MEDICAL CARE MEDICAL FACILITIES MEDICAL PRACTICE MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS MEDICAL SERVICES MEDICINES MIGRATION MORBIDITY MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION NEIGHBORHOODS NUTRITION PATIENT PATIENTS PHYSICIAN PRIMARY CARE PROBABILITY RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES SCREENING SLUMS TB TRADITIONAL MEDICINE TREATMENT TUBERCULOSIS URBAN POPULATION USE OF HEALTH SERVICES VILLAGES WOMAN WORKERS
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20110824082326 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3541

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Summary:	Between 2000 and 2002, the authors followed 1621 individuals in Delhi, India using a combination of weekly and monthly-recall health questionnaires. In 2008, they augmented these data with another 8 weeks of surveys during which households were experimentally allocated to surveys with different recall periods in the second half of the survey. This paper shows that the length of the recall period had a large impact on reported morbidity, doctor visits, time spent sick, whether at least one day of work/school was lost due to sickness, and the reported use of self-medication. The effects are more pronounced among the poor than the rich. In one example, differential recall effects across income groups reverse the sign of the gradient between doctor visits and per-capita expenditures such that the poor use health care providers more than the rich in the weekly recall surveys but less in monthly recall surveys. The authors hypothesize that illnesses -- especially among the poor -- are no longer perceived as "extraordinary events" but have become part of "normal" life. They discuss the implications of these results for health survey methodology, and the economic interpretation of sickness in poor populations.