Prevalence and the Factors Influencing Soil-transmitted Helminths Among School Age Children (5-14 Years Age) in a Rural Area of Coimbatore District

Context: Highest intensity of soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) is seen among school age children.

Aims: The aim of this study is to find out the prevalence and factors associated with soil-transmitted helminthic infection among school age children (5-14 years) in a rural area of Coimbatore district.

Settings And Design: The study was conducted in the field practice area of the Rural Health Training Centre (RHTC) Vedapatti, Coimbatore. RHTC caters to a total population of 23,841 distributed in 14 villages. After getting ethical clearance, five of the 14 villages of Vedapatti were selected by the cluster sampling method. Totally, 819 participated in the survey conducted between November 2015 and July 2016 in the field practice area.

Subjects And Methods: Structured questionnaire was used to collect the information. Consent from parents and assent from child were obtained. Totally, 610 gave one adequate stool sample. Early morning samples were collected and transported to the laboratory within four hours. Formal ether concentration method was performed, and examination was done.

Statistical Analysis Used: Data analysis was performed with the SPSS version 19 software. The prevalence is expressed in percentage with 95% confidence interval (CI). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Strength of association was expressed in terms of odds ratio (OR) and adjusted OR with 95% CI. < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: The prevalence of STH was 7.70% (95% CI: 5.58-9.82). was highly prevalent 6.9% (4.89%-8.91%) followed by Hook worm 0.7% (0.04%-1.36%), and 0.2% (0.15%-0.55%). Mulitivariate logistic regression analysis showed that pucca houses offered protection against STH.

Conclusions: The prevalence of STH in a rural area of Coimbatore is 7.7% (95% CI: 5.58-9.82), and is continuing as a public health problem.