Community based estimation of incidence of influenza like illness and analysis of health care seeking intention

Objective To estimate the incidence of Influenza-like illness (ILI) and health care seeking intention in community residents in Tianjin. Methods A total of 4028 local residents were selected through stratified random sampling from 1 to 3 communities in 4 counties in Tianjin. A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect information on incidence of ILI and health care seeking intention among them. Results The incidence of ILI was 11.37%(95% CI:10.39%-12.42%)in Tianjin during 2013. Of all the residents with ILI, 56.87% would like to see doctor. There are statistically significant differences in health care seeking intention among the residents in different age groups and in different districts (2=46.563 and 2=40.637,P0.05). Up to 64.31% of the residents with ILI chose class 1 hospital. The costs for health care in class 2 and class 3 hospitals were higher than that in class 1 hospital (P0.05). Conclusion Community survey based ILI incidence was higher than that based on sentinel surveillance. Most residents with ILI chose class 1 hospital for the treatment.