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

37 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Jishnu Das

Jishnu Das

Georgetown University; Georgetown University

Jeffrey S. Hammer

Princeton University - Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

Carolina Sanchez-Paramo

World Bank

Date Written: August 1, 2011

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Health Monitoring & Evaluation, Health Systems Development & Reform, Disease Control & Prevention, Gender and Health, Housing & Human Habitats

Suggested Citation

Das, Jishnu and Hammer, Jeffrey S. and Sanchez-Paramo, Carolina, The Impact of Recall Periods on Reported Morbidity and Health Seeking Behavior (August 1, 2011). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 5778, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1916540

Jishnu Das (Contact Author)

Georgetown University ( email )

O Street
Washington, DC 20057
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Georgetown University ( email )

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Jeffrey S. Hammer

Princeton University - Princeton School of Public and International Affairs ( email )

Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544-1021
United States

Carolina Sanchez-Paramo

World Bank

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

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