IngentaConnect Beliefs about Meals Eaten Outside the Home as Sources of Gastroin...

Authors: Green, Laura R.¹; Selman, Carol²; Scallan, Elaine³; Jones, Timothy F.⁴; Marcus, Ruthanne⁵; The EHS-NET Population Survey Working Group,²

Source: Journal of Food Protection®, Volume 68, Number 10, October 2005 , pp. 2184-2189(6)

Publisher: International Association for Food Protection

Abstract:

In a 2002 telephone survey of 16,435 randomly selected U.S. residents, respondents answered several questions about their beliefs concerning sources of gastrointestinal illness. Of those who had experienced vomiting or diarrhea in the month before their telephone interview, 22% believed the source of their gastrointestinal illness was a meal eaten outside the home. Ill respondents who had diarrhea but not vomiting and who did not miss work because of their illness were more likely to believe the illness resulted from a specific outside meal. Ill respondents attributed their illness to a specific outside meal for several reasons, including symptom timing (43%) and illness of their meal companions (6%). Eight percent of ill respondents reported their illness to a health department or the restaurant suspected of causing the illness. Those with vomiting and those who missed work or activities because of their illness were more likely to report their illness. Most respondents (54%) who attributed their illness to a specific outside meal said their illness symptoms began within a short time (5 h) of eating that meal. The foodborne illnesses for which this is a likely time frame typically are associated with vomiting, but respondents with vomiting did not report a shorter symptom onset than respondents without vomiting. These findings suggest that ill respondents may have the misconception that foodborne illness symptoms typically occur shortly after ingestion of contaminated food. Results suggest that education efforts should focus on the nature and timing of foodborne illness symptoms and the importance of reporting suspected foodborne illnesses.

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: RTI International, 4770 Buford Highway, MS F-28, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, USA 2: National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, USA 3: National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA 4: Communicable and Environmental Disease Services, Tennessee Department of Health, Fourth Floor, Cordell Hull Building, 425 Fifth Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37247, USA 5: Connecticut Emerging Infections Program, 1 Church Street, Seventh Floor, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, USA

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Beliefs about Meals Eaten Outside the Home as Sources of Gastrointestinal Illness