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Impact of family ownerships, individual hygiene, and residential environments on the prevalence of pediculosis capitis among schoolchildren in urban and rural areas of northwest of Iran

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Abstract

In the appraisal of head lice outbreak, in addition to socioeconomic factors and availability of health care services, environmental conditions of the households must be taken into account. However, interviewing with children or mailing questionnaires to families may not reflect the actualities. Therefore, in this study, all the inclusive factors which may be associated with head lice outbreak were thoroughly and closely investigated. The data were collected by examining students at schools and surveying patients’ households. A questionnaire concerning children’s personal hygienic practices, family features, and environmental conditions of the households was filled out during the close assessment of the residential area. The overall prevalence of head lice was obtained as 5.9 %, and the difference was not significant within the urban (5.1 %) and rural (6.1 %) communities. Overall, the number of infested students was more frequent in girls (6.6 %) than boys (2.8 %), but the difference was not significant. The highest infestation rate was obtained in the examined students whose fathers were unemployed, farmer, and herdsman. Family income showed greater correlation with the prevalence of pediculosis capitis. A high frequency of pediculosis capitis was identified among the students who were sharing individual items with siblings. Assessment of households showed that room flooring material and keeping animals at home were highly correlated with head lice prevalence. Households should be informed that infestations happen, irrespective of socioeconomic status. However, the physical and environmental conditions of living areas and households play an important role in head lice prevention.

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Acknowledgments

This study is a part of an MSc thesis by Shahin Salimian in Environmental Health Engineering, which was submitted to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (5/4/4683-1392.06.05). The authors would like to acknowledge Tabriz University of Medical Sciences for the financial support of this survey. We appreciate all health authorities at Health Chancellor of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences for contribution to data gathering.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Reza Dehghanzadeh, Shahin Salimian & Ahmad Asl Hashemi

  2. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Mohammad Asghari-Jafarabadi

  3. Province Health Center, Health Chancellor, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Simin Khayatzadeh

Authors
  1. Reza Dehghanzadeh
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  2. Mohammad Asghari-Jafarabadi
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  3. Shahin Salimian
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  4. Ahmad Asl Hashemi
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  5. Simin Khayatzadeh
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Correspondence to Reza Dehghanzadeh.

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Dehghanzadeh, R., Asghari-Jafarabadi, M., Salimian, S. et al. Impact of family ownerships, individual hygiene, and residential environments on the prevalence of pediculosis capitis among schoolchildren in urban and rural areas of northwest of Iran. Parasitol Res 114, 4295–4303 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4670-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4670-1

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