Zdorovʹe Rebenka (Oct 2019)

The effect of chronic giardiasis invasion on the quality of life of schoolchildren

  • G.О. Zaslavskaya

DOI
https://doi.org/10.22141/2224-0551.14.7.2019.184623
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 7
pp. 428 – 433

Abstract

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Background. A lot of researches have been devoted to preserving the health of children. One of the criteria for assessing the condition of a child is his quality of life. In the literature, the term “health-related quality of life” is widely used, which implies the characteristics of various aspects of the state of the body, both related and unrelated to the disease. The study of the quality of life of children with giardiasis has not been yet studied. In this regard, the purpose of the study was to study the quality of life indicators for school-age children with a chronic course of giardiasis. Materials and methods. The study involved 126 six children with chronic giardiasis aged 13 to 18 years. The control group consisted of apparently healthy children (72 children) matched by age. The children with giardiasis of the basic group belonged to different age subgroups: subgroup I — teenage boys aged 13–16 years old and girls 12–15 years old — 64 people (50.79 %); II subgroup — juveniles: boys aged from 17 to 18 years old, and girls from 16 to 18 years old — 62 people (49.21 %). An instrument for studying the quality of life of children in the studied groups was the international questionnaire MOS SF-36. Results. It was found that most indicators of the quality of life of children with giardiasis were lower in comparison with the control group of children. The study revealed a more significant decline in the parameters in adolescents. The lowest rates concerned the area of the psychological component of health. The level of Mental Health in this subgroup decreased to 41.02 ± 2.04 scores, which is lower (p < 0.05) compared with the control subgroup (65.12 ± 3.89 scores). With a predominant lesion of the digestive system, the indicators of the physical component of health were 12–19 scores lower. In case of damage to other organs and systems, the indicators of the mental component of health were 12–16 scores lower, which was due to the presence of 87.1 % of people with asthenoneurotic syndrome in the subgroup. Conclusions. Giardiasis invasion reduces the quality of life. Lower rates were established in adolescents. The psychological sphere para­meters were reduced due to asthenoneurotic syndrome, and physical ones due to the damage to the digestive system.

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