Predictive risk factors towards liver fluke infection among the people in Kamalasai District, Kalasin Province, Thailand

BACKGROUND: Liver fluke disease caused by Opisthorchis viverrini remains a major public health problem with its crucial risk factors caused by some individual habits or false beliefs among the people in northeastern Thailand concerning the consumption of raw fish meat dishes. OBJECTIVES: This study explores the predictive risk factors for the infection of liver fluke disease. METHODS: The sample consisted of 400 people aged 30 years and above in Thanya sub-district, Kamalasai district, Kalasin province. A cross-sectional analytic study, using the χ(2) test, odds ratio and 95% confidence interval, was used to find the influence of each variable, along with the use of multiple logistic regression (p = 0.05). A questionnaire form was used as the research instrument. RESULTS: Factors found in the results are as follows: households with a cat were 7.00 times more at risk than households without a cat; eating raw fish dishes prepared by themselves increases the risk of infection by 2.58 times; eating raw fish dishes prepared by family members increases the risk by 4.74 times; and raw fish dishes bought from a community market increases the risk by 2.33 times. CONCLUSION: A campaign should be launched to educate people not to eat raw or undercooked fish dishes, but to fully cook fish dishes before eating, as the food is still delicious, but also safe, healthy, and free from liver fluke infection.