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Prevalence of Ectoparasitic Infections and Other Dermatological Infections and Their Associated Factors among School Children in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka

Skin disorders are one of the commonest conditions among school children in developing countries. There are only a few published studies available from Sri Lanka on the prevalence of skin disorders. A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among five government-run schools randomly se...

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Autores principales: Gunathilaka, Nayana, Chandrasena, Nilmini, Udayanga, Lahiru
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6452534/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31019612
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/5827124
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author Gunathilaka, Nayana
Chandrasena, Nilmini
Udayanga, Lahiru
author_facet Gunathilaka, Nayana
Chandrasena, Nilmini
Udayanga, Lahiru
author_sort Gunathilaka, Nayana
collection PubMed
description Skin disorders are one of the commonest conditions among school children in developing countries. There are only a few published studies available from Sri Lanka on the prevalence of skin disorders. A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among five government-run schools randomly selected from the district of Gampaha, Sri Lanka, during 2016-2017. A total of 41 students between 5 and 16 years of age were randomly selected from each school. Sociodemographic profile and hygienic behaviors of selected students were assessed using a pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire. Students were examined by a medical officer for the presence of different skin disorders. The chi-squared test of association and binary logistic regression were used for the identification of the significance of socioeconomic factors and hygienic practices among the study participants. A total of 205 school children participated in the study. The commonest skin disorder was pediculosis (42.0%; n=86), followed by dandruff (8.3%; n=17), fungal infections (6.8%; n=14), and scabies (1.5%; n=3). Almost one-fourth of the study participants (22.9%; n=30/131) had more than one disorder, majored by Pediculus captis infestation with dandruff. Over one-third (36.1%; n=74) were free of any skin disorders. The prevalence of skin disorders was significantly high among females (87.3%; n=110), compared to males (26.6%; n=21). Presence of long hair, higher family size, and limited number of rooms in the house were risk factors associated with the prevalence of skin disorders. The commonest skin disorder was pediculosis, while scabies and fungal infections were scarce among school children in the district of Gampaha, Sri Lanka. Implementation of health education and monitoring programs at the school level for maintaining the dermal health status of school children is recommended.
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spelling pubmed-64525342019-04-24 Prevalence of Ectoparasitic Infections and Other Dermatological Infections and Their Associated Factors among School Children in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka Gunathilaka, Nayana Chandrasena, Nilmini Udayanga, Lahiru Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol Research Article Skin disorders are one of the commonest conditions among school children in developing countries. There are only a few published studies available from Sri Lanka on the prevalence of skin disorders. A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among five government-run schools randomly selected from the district of Gampaha, Sri Lanka, during 2016-2017. A total of 41 students between 5 and 16 years of age were randomly selected from each school. Sociodemographic profile and hygienic behaviors of selected students were assessed using a pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire. Students were examined by a medical officer for the presence of different skin disorders. The chi-squared test of association and binary logistic regression were used for the identification of the significance of socioeconomic factors and hygienic practices among the study participants. A total of 205 school children participated in the study. The commonest skin disorder was pediculosis (42.0%; n=86), followed by dandruff (8.3%; n=17), fungal infections (6.8%; n=14), and scabies (1.5%; n=3). Almost one-fourth of the study participants (22.9%; n=30/131) had more than one disorder, majored by Pediculus captis infestation with dandruff. Over one-third (36.1%; n=74) were free of any skin disorders. The prevalence of skin disorders was significantly high among females (87.3%; n=110), compared to males (26.6%; n=21). Presence of long hair, higher family size, and limited number of rooms in the house were risk factors associated with the prevalence of skin disorders. The commonest skin disorder was pediculosis, while scabies and fungal infections were scarce among school children in the district of Gampaha, Sri Lanka. Implementation of health education and monitoring programs at the school level for maintaining the dermal health status of school children is recommended. Hindawi 2019-03-25 /pmc/articles/PMC6452534/ /pubmed/31019612 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/5827124 Text en Copyright © 2019 Nayana Gunathilaka et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Gunathilaka, Nayana
Chandrasena, Nilmini
Udayanga, Lahiru
Prevalence of Ectoparasitic Infections and Other Dermatological Infections and Their Associated Factors among School Children in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka
title Prevalence of Ectoparasitic Infections and Other Dermatological Infections and Their Associated Factors among School Children in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka
title_full Prevalence of Ectoparasitic Infections and Other Dermatological Infections and Their Associated Factors among School Children in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka
title_fullStr Prevalence of Ectoparasitic Infections and Other Dermatological Infections and Their Associated Factors among School Children in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence of Ectoparasitic Infections and Other Dermatological Infections and Their Associated Factors among School Children in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka
title_short Prevalence of Ectoparasitic Infections and Other Dermatological Infections and Their Associated Factors among School Children in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka
title_sort prevalence of ectoparasitic infections and other dermatological infections and their associated factors among school children in gampaha district, sri lanka
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6452534/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31019612
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/5827124
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