Prevalence and predictors of intestinal worm infections among Semai Aboriginal Tribe School Children in Tapah, Malaysia
Introduction: Worm infection is one of the major global public health problems especially among rural communities. Objectives: to determine the prevalence of intestinal worm infection and factors associated among Semai Aboriginal children aged between 6 to 13 years in Tapah, Malaysia. Methods: A c...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia
2017
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/62845/1/Prevalence_and_Predictors_of_Intestinal_Worm_Infections.pdf http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/62845/ |
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| Institution: | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | Introduction: Worm infection is one of the major global public health problems especially among rural communities.
Objectives: to determine the prevalence of intestinal worm infection and factors associated among Semai Aboriginal
children aged between 6 to 13 years in Tapah, Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used in this
study. The estimated sample size was 508. Data was collected using a validated pretested questionnaire. Faecal
samples were also examined. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22. Results: The response rate was 80.9%.
The overall mean age of the 411 respondents was 10.1 years(95% CI = 9.89, 10.22). Majority (71.5%) were poor.
Prevalence of intestinal worm infections was 60.8% and 57.2% had multiple infections. The multiple logistic
regression analysis showed that those with poor hygiene practices were 2.18 times the odds of worm infection
when compared with children with good hygiene practices (95% CI = 1.4, 3.4). Similarly, poor attitudes towards
prevention of worm infection increased the odds of having worm infection by 1.62 times among Orang Asli children.
Children living without toilets had 2.45 times higher odds as compared with those who had proper toilets. Absence
of river near by these areas where there is no safe water supply also increases the risk of worm infection among
children by 1.84 times among Orang Asli children. Conclusions: the prevalence of worm infection is still very
high among rural Aboriginal community. Current control measures should be reassessed to enable introduction of
effective measures to reduce the worm infection among Orang Asli children. |
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