Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Nigeria Ituku-Ozalla Campus, Enugu, Nigeria.
School of Education Studies, Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
J Community Psychol. 2022 Apr;50(3):1470-1480. doi: 10.1002/jcop.22727. Epub 2021 Oct 6.
Helminthiasis causes iron deficiency anemia, pica, growth, and mental retardation in children. Deworming exercises are being included as part of various interventional programs to reduce the disease burden. However, the success or failure of such activities in terms of household caregivers' knowledge and practice of deworming is not usually adequately evaluated, thus this study. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in the rural community of Enugu State, Nigeria. Pretested semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used. Inferential statistics, χ test, and t-test were also used in the analysis for categorical and continuous variables, respectively. A total of 294 preschool children and 250 caregivers were studied. Among the caregivers, 212 (71.9%) had good knowledge and 149 (50.5%) had good practice of deworming. There was a statistically significant association between the age of respondents and knowledge score (χ = 6.471, p = 0.039) and between the educational level of respondents and practice score (χ = 30.632, p < 0.001). Most respondents in the rural community had a good knowledge of worm infestation and only half had good practice of deworming. Also, there was a significant difference between the age of respondents and knowledge of helminthiasis and between the educational level of respondents and deworming activities of respondents.
寄生虫病会导致儿童缺铁性贫血、异食癖、生长迟缓和智力发育迟缓。驱虫运动作为各种干预计划的一部分正在开展，以减轻疾病负担。然而，这些活动在家庭照顾者驱虫知识和实践方面的成败通常没有得到充分评估，因此开展了这项研究。这是一项在尼日利亚埃努古州农村社区进行的横断面描述性研究。使用了经过预测试的半结构式访谈式问卷。推断性统计、卡方检验和 t 检验分别用于分析分类和连续变量。共研究了 294 名学龄前儿童和 250 名照顾者。在照顾者中，212 人（71.9%）有良好的驱虫知识，149 人（50.5%）有良好的驱虫实践。受访者的年龄与知识得分之间存在统计学显著关联（χ²=6.471，p=0.039），受访者的教育水平与实践得分之间也存在统计学显著关联（χ²=30.632，p<0.001）。农村社区的大多数受访者对寄生虫感染有很好的了解，但只有一半的人有良好的驱虫实践。此外，受访者的年龄和对寄生虫病的了解以及受访者的教育水平和驱虫活动之间存在显著差异。
