Determinants of Latrine Use Behavior: The Psychosocial Proxies of Individual-Level Defecation Practices in Rural Coastal Ecuador.

There is increasing appreciation that latrine access does not imply use-many individuals who own latrines do not consistently use them. Little is known, however, about the determinants of latrine use, particularly among those with variable defecation behaviors. Using the integrated behavior model of water, sanitation, and hygiene framework, we sought to characterize determinants of latrine use in rural Ecuador. We interviewed 197 adults living in three communities with a survey consisting of 70 psychosocial defecation-related questions. Questions were excluded from analysis if responses lacked variability or at least 10% of respondents did not provide a definitive answer. All interviewed individuals had access to a privately owned or shared latrine. We then applied adaptive elastic nets (ENET) and supervised principal component analysis (SPCA) to a reduced dataset of 45 questions among 154 individuals with complete data to select determinants that predict self-reported latrine use. Latrine use was common, but not universal, in the sample (76%). The SPCA model identified six determinants and adaptive ENET selected five determinants. Three indicators were represented in both models-latrine users were more likely to report that their latrine is clean enough to use and also more likely to report daily latrine use; while those reporting that elderly men were not latrine users were less likely to use latrines themselves. Our findings suggest that social norms are important predictors of latrine use, whereas knowledge of the health benefits of sanitation may not be as important. These determinants are informative for promotion of latrine adoption.

[Diarrheal illnesses on the Ecuadorian coast: socio-environmental changes and health concepts]. / Males diarreicos en la costa ecuatoriana: cambios socioambientales y concepciones de salud.

The authors present an ethnoepidemiological study of diarrheal illnesses in 21 communities on the northern coast of Ecuador, where numerous social and environmental changes have taken place since 2001 due to a new highway. As communities realize that nature itself is changing, changes occur in their interpretations of health and disease, which the authors present through a taxonomic classification of diarrheal illnesses. Given the high incidence of diarrheal diseases, alternative concepts have emerged (as compared to those of biomedicine) in relation to causes, symptoms, and treatments. The non-biomedical and biomedical systems overlap, with mixtures of coexistence and resistance. Recognizing this reality means understanding a series of challenges for the official health system, including the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, non-use of health services for some diseases, and perceived relations between environmental contamination and the efficacy of modern and traditional medicines.

Males diarreicos en la costa ecuatoriana: cambios socioambientales y concepciones de salud / Diarrheal illnesses on the Ecuadorian coast: socio-environmental changes and health concepts

Presentamos una etnoepidemiologia de las enfermedades diarreicas en 21 pueblos de la costa norte del Ecuador, zona en la cual hay muchos cambios sociales y ambientales desde 2001 por la presencia de una nueva carretera. Con percepciones de que la misma naturaleza esta cambiando, vienen cambios en interpretaciones de lo que es salud y enfermedad, que presentamos en forma de una taxonomia de males diarreicos. Ante la fuerte incidencia de las enfermedades diarreicas, existen concepciones alternativas a la biomedicina en cuanto a sus causas, sintomas y tratamientos. Hay superposiciones entre sistemas no-biomedicas y biomedicos, en donde hay mezclas de coexistencia y resistencia. Reconocer esto es entender una serie de desafios para el sistema de salud oficial, incluyendo el uso indiscriminado de antibioticos, el no uso de servicios de salud para algunos males, y relaciones percibidas entre contaminacion ambiental y la eficacia de las medicinas moderna y tradicional.

The authors present an ethnoepidemiological study of diarrheal illnesses in 21 communities on the northern coast of Ecuador, where numerous social and environmental changes have taken place since 2001 due to a new highway. As communities realize that nature itself is changing, changes occur in their interpretations of health and disease, which the authors present through a taxonomic classification of diarrheal illnesses. Given the high incidence of diarrheal diseases, alternative concepts have emerged (as compared to those of biomedicine) in relation to causes, symptoms, and treatments. The non-biomedical and biomedical systems overlap, with mixtures of coexistence and resistance. Recognizing this reality means understanding a series of challenges for the official health system, including the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, non-use of health services for some diseases, and perceived relations between environmental contamination and the efficacy of modern and traditional medicines.