Cargando…

Knowledge, Attitudes, Psychosocial Perspectives and Applied Epidemiology in the Control of Head Lice (pediculosis capitis) in Croatian Preschool Children: A Qualitative Study on Childcare Professionals and Health Coordinators

This study aimed to concurrently determine the perceived knowledge, attitudes and perspectives of childcare professionals working in kindergartens towards pediculosis capitis, a common ectoparasitic disease also known as head lice, as well as gain insights into procedures and control measures that a...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Neuberg, Marijana, Banfić, Ines, Cikač, Tina, Ribić, Rosana, Zember, Sanja, Meštrović, Tomislav
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8774602/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35053689
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children9010066
_version_ 1784636387579920384
author Neuberg, Marijana
Banfić, Ines
Cikač, Tina
Ribić, Rosana
Zember, Sanja
Meštrović, Tomislav
author_facet Neuberg, Marijana
Banfić, Ines
Cikač, Tina
Ribić, Rosana
Zember, Sanja
Meštrović, Tomislav
author_sort Neuberg, Marijana
collection PubMed
description This study aimed to concurrently determine the perceived knowledge, attitudes and perspectives of childcare professionals working in kindergartens towards pediculosis capitis, a common ectoparasitic disease also known as head lice, as well as gain insights into procedures and control measures that are implemented in an outbreak setting. We used a qualitative approach with a problem-centered, semi-structured and three-part interview technique conducted in selected kindergartens of Varaždin and Međimurje counties of the Republic of Croatia. Based on a purposive (deliberate) sampling method, the study included both childcare professionals and on-site health coordinators aged between 21 and 56 years of age. Five main themes were put forth as a result of the conducted thematic analysis: prevention and control measures for managing head lice, information and knowledge, social issues, psychological issues and disease perception. Each of these themes also had specific emerging categories based on participants’ responses. Even though all respondents confirmed that the disease is continuously monitored only a few of them mentioned that a scalp examination was an inherent part of disease surveillance within the kindergarten community. Moreover, we found that information on pediculosis capitis is available to both parents and childcare professionals, but with a questionable uptake. Additionally, the majority of the respondents reported that parents tend to hide the infestation in their children due to shame and/or to avoid social stigma, and thus often fail to inform kindergarten teachers and health coordinators about the problem. In conclusion, our findings have implications for further practice and the introduction of tailored public health measures for the most vulnerable populations, most notably kindergarten children.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8774602
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-87746022022-01-21 Knowledge, Attitudes, Psychosocial Perspectives and Applied Epidemiology in the Control of Head Lice (pediculosis capitis) in Croatian Preschool Children: A Qualitative Study on Childcare Professionals and Health Coordinators Neuberg, Marijana Banfić, Ines Cikač, Tina Ribić, Rosana Zember, Sanja Meštrović, Tomislav Children (Basel) Article This study aimed to concurrently determine the perceived knowledge, attitudes and perspectives of childcare professionals working in kindergartens towards pediculosis capitis, a common ectoparasitic disease also known as head lice, as well as gain insights into procedures and control measures that are implemented in an outbreak setting. We used a qualitative approach with a problem-centered, semi-structured and three-part interview technique conducted in selected kindergartens of Varaždin and Međimurje counties of the Republic of Croatia. Based on a purposive (deliberate) sampling method, the study included both childcare professionals and on-site health coordinators aged between 21 and 56 years of age. Five main themes were put forth as a result of the conducted thematic analysis: prevention and control measures for managing head lice, information and knowledge, social issues, psychological issues and disease perception. Each of these themes also had specific emerging categories based on participants’ responses. Even though all respondents confirmed that the disease is continuously monitored only a few of them mentioned that a scalp examination was an inherent part of disease surveillance within the kindergarten community. Moreover, we found that information on pediculosis capitis is available to both parents and childcare professionals, but with a questionable uptake. Additionally, the majority of the respondents reported that parents tend to hide the infestation in their children due to shame and/or to avoid social stigma, and thus often fail to inform kindergarten teachers and health coordinators about the problem. In conclusion, our findings have implications for further practice and the introduction of tailored public health measures for the most vulnerable populations, most notably kindergarten children. MDPI 2022-01-04 /pmc/articles/PMC8774602/ /pubmed/35053689 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children9010066 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Neuberg, Marijana
Banfić, Ines
Cikač, Tina
Ribić, Rosana
Zember, Sanja
Meštrović, Tomislav
Knowledge, Attitudes, Psychosocial Perspectives and Applied Epidemiology in the Control of Head Lice (pediculosis capitis) in Croatian Preschool Children: A Qualitative Study on Childcare Professionals and Health Coordinators
title Knowledge, Attitudes, Psychosocial Perspectives and Applied Epidemiology in the Control of Head Lice (pediculosis capitis) in Croatian Preschool Children: A Qualitative Study on Childcare Professionals and Health Coordinators
title_full Knowledge, Attitudes, Psychosocial Perspectives and Applied Epidemiology in the Control of Head Lice (pediculosis capitis) in Croatian Preschool Children: A Qualitative Study on Childcare Professionals and Health Coordinators
title_fullStr Knowledge, Attitudes, Psychosocial Perspectives and Applied Epidemiology in the Control of Head Lice (pediculosis capitis) in Croatian Preschool Children: A Qualitative Study on Childcare Professionals and Health Coordinators
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge, Attitudes, Psychosocial Perspectives and Applied Epidemiology in the Control of Head Lice (pediculosis capitis) in Croatian Preschool Children: A Qualitative Study on Childcare Professionals and Health Coordinators
title_short Knowledge, Attitudes, Psychosocial Perspectives and Applied Epidemiology in the Control of Head Lice (pediculosis capitis) in Croatian Preschool Children: A Qualitative Study on Childcare Professionals and Health Coordinators
title_sort knowledge, attitudes, psychosocial perspectives and applied epidemiology in the control of head lice (pediculosis capitis) in croatian preschool children: a qualitative study on childcare professionals and health coordinators
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8774602/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35053689
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children9010066
work_keys_str_mv AT neubergmarijana knowledgeattitudespsychosocialperspectivesandappliedepidemiologyinthecontrolofheadlicepediculosiscapitisincroatianpreschoolchildrenaqualitativestudyonchildcareprofessionalsandhealthcoordinators
AT banficines knowledgeattitudespsychosocialperspectivesandappliedepidemiologyinthecontrolofheadlicepediculosiscapitisincroatianpreschoolchildrenaqualitativestudyonchildcareprofessionalsandhealthcoordinators
AT cikactina knowledgeattitudespsychosocialperspectivesandappliedepidemiologyinthecontrolofheadlicepediculosiscapitisincroatianpreschoolchildrenaqualitativestudyonchildcareprofessionalsandhealthcoordinators
AT ribicrosana knowledgeattitudespsychosocialperspectivesandappliedepidemiologyinthecontrolofheadlicepediculosiscapitisincroatianpreschoolchildrenaqualitativestudyonchildcareprofessionalsandhealthcoordinators
AT zembersanja knowledgeattitudespsychosocialperspectivesandappliedepidemiologyinthecontrolofheadlicepediculosiscapitisincroatianpreschoolchildrenaqualitativestudyonchildcareprofessionalsandhealthcoordinators
AT mestrovictomislav knowledgeattitudespsychosocialperspectivesandappliedepidemiologyinthecontrolofheadlicepediculosiscapitisincroatianpreschoolchildrenaqualitativestudyonchildcareprofessionalsandhealthcoordinators