The Relationship of Gender, School Sanitation and Personal Hygiene with Helminthiasis at Juhar Karo Regency in North Sumatera Province, Indonesia

• Published in: Open access Macedonian journal of medical sciences Vol. 7; no. 20; pp. 3497 - 3500
• Main Authors: Agustaria, Ginting, Fazidah, Aguslina Siregar, Nurmaini, Nurmaini
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: North Macedonia Republic of Macedonia 30.10.2019
• Subjects: Tropical and Infectious Diseases Control and Management; Personal hygiene; School sanitation; Gender; Helminthiasis
• ISSN: 1857-9655; 1857-9655
• DOI: 10.3889/oamjms.2019.686

Helminthiasis is a parasitic disease in human that causes a disturbance in food absorption and lead to malnutrition. The disease slowly impacts on the intelligence. The incidence of helminthiasis in Indonesia remains high, ranging from 2.5% to 62%. A preliminary study found that the proportion of helminthiasis in children is 31.25%. The aim of the study to analyse the relationship between age, school sanitation and personal hygiene with helminthiasis elementary school children in Juhar Karo Regency in 2019. This was an observational study with a cross-sectional design. Subjects were children in grades IV, V and VI with and without helminthiasis. A total of 194 children selected by proportional random sampling were enrolled. Data were collected by interview, observation, and stool examination with the Kato-Katz method. The proportion of helminthiasis in boys was 51.0%, the proportion of poor sanitation in school was 36.6%, and the proportion of poor personal hygiene was 67.5%. Personal hygiene was significantly associated with the incidence of helminthiasis (RP = 6.052; 95% CI = 3.029-12.902; P-value = 0.001). Improved personal hygiene may prevent the occurrence of helminthiasis. The proportion of helminthiasis in elementary school students in this region was 50.0%. Personal hygiene has been shown to be related to helminthiasis. In this study, subjects with poor personal hygiene had a chance of 6.052 times greater to experience helminth infection compared to subjects who had good personal hygiene.