Knowledge, Attitudes and Deworming Practice Regarding Soil-Transmitted Helminthiaisis among the Parents of School Going Children

Abstract

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and deworming practice regarding soil-transmitted helminthiasis among parents of school-going children in Rawalpindi. Study Design: Descriptive Cross Sectional Study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at General Out- Patient Department (OPD) of Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi, from 20th February 2019 to 15th July 2019. Materials and Methods: A pilot-tested, self-structured interview sheet was used to collect data from 350 parents who had at least one school going child. Non-probability consecutive sampling technique was used. Associations between socio-demographic variables and knowledge and between treatment beliefs and deworming practice were explored. The data analysis was done using statistical software program SPSS version 25.0. Results: Most of the participants (71.7%) had adequate overall knowledge about soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Majority (84.3%) believed soil-transmitted helminthiasis to be harmful for children’s health and wanted more awareness to be raised about the topic. Significant associations were found between the better educational status of parents (p-value=0.040), family/friends as sources of information (p-value=0.000) and adequate knowledge about soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Parents who said it was safe to give deworming medicines to children without STH had significantly higher odds (4.513, p-value=0.000) of giving deworming medicines to their children than those parents who believed it to be unsafe. Conclusion: This study shows that most parents have adequate overall knowledge and correct attitude towards soil-transmitted helminthiasis. However, many parents have a misconception regarding the safety of deworming medicines and this significantly affects their deworming practice.

Keywords

• children’s health, helminthiasis, parents, public health.