Identifying water sources, quality of drinking water, implications and prevalence of Gastrointestinal problems and its associated risk factors in a rural area of India: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional and Observational Study

Abstract: Background: Water is the most important and essential resource on earth. All creatures on earth depend on water. The quality of water is based on its physical, chemical and biological properties. Water quality plays a very important role in our health. Poor water quality can lead to many communicable and non-communicable diseases. In this study, we intend to identify water sources, quality of drinking water, its implications and the prevalence of Gastrointestinal problems and its associated risk factors in a rural area of South India. Materials and Methods: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional and Observational Study of two villages namely Villipakkam and Puthirankottai was conducted with a sample of 1517 individuals were interviewed with a pre-tested pre-designed questionnaire. Results: In our study, we surveyed two villages with a total of 1517 study participants, of which 797 (52.5%) were females. Overall, 58 (11.8%) of the households had gastrointestinal (GI) problems in the last 3 months. 64.4% were consuming non-chlorinated water and 53.3% of household members didn’t consume boiled water. 68.7% didn’t had toilet facility. Variables like educational status, occupational status, boiling of drinking water, washing hands before eating, using pipe water for drinking purpose showed statistically significant association with people those who were affected by GI problem with p