Elderly knowledge about parasitosis in the non-governmental institutions in Araçatuba county, SP.

Abstract

Elderly population needs to be constantly informed in relation to zoonoses control. The present work was elaborated with the objective to evaluate the degree of knowledge of the elderly population related to parasitoses. One hundred and thirty four elderly people, from the institutions “Flor da Idade”, “Universidade da Terceira Idade (UNA)” and “Amigos da Terceira Idade”, were interviewed, through individual questionnaires being applied. From the statistical descriptive analysis, it was possible to verify that 67.16% (90/134) of the people responded that the worms from animals are transmitted to man. Among these, 34.44% (31/90) were not able to explain how, 10.00% (9/90) mentioned direct contact with dogs and cats and only 8.89% (8/90) mentioned urine and feces as the means of dissemination. When questioned about Leishmaniasis, 85.82% (115/134) declared to know what the disease is about, 77.61% (104/134) stated as the only preventive measure, the environmental cleaning, 20.90% (28/134) did not know anything and only 1.49% (2/134) mentioned the use of Citronella as a repellent. Related to the transmission, 93.68% (89/95) pointed the mosquito as the vector. In relation to toxoplasmosis, 78.36% (105/134) did not know the meaning and 86.57% (116/134) ignored the mean of dissemination. The results demonstrated the need for campaigns about the parasitical zoonoses with special attention to elderly people.

Keywords

• Idosos. Parasitoses.