Perception and attitudinal factors contributing to periodic deworming of preschool children in an urban slum, Nigeria
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Perception and attitudinal factors contributing to periodic deworming of preschool children in an urban slum, Nigeria Paul Eze1* , Ujunwa Justina Agu2, Chioma Lynda Aniebo2, Sergius Alex Agu3 and Lucky Osaheni Lawani4
Abstract Background: Over 20 million preschool-age children (PSAC) in Nigeria require periodic chemotherapy (PC) for soiltransmitted helminth (STH) infections. Persistently low coverage for this age group threatens the World Health Organization (WHO) 2030 target for eliminating STH infections. Current strategies for targeting PSAC have been largely ineffective. Hence, PSAC are mostly dewormed by their parents/caregivers. However, little is known of the perception and attitude of parents/caregivers of PSAC to deworming in this setting. Methods: A mixed methods design, combining a community-based interviewer-administered questionnaire-survey (n = 433) and focus group discussions (FGD) (n = 43) was used to assess the perceptions and attitudes of mothers to periodic deworming of preschool children aged 2–5 years in Abakpa-Nike, Enugu, Nigeria. Results: Coverage of periodic deworming in PSAC is 42% (95% CI: 37.3–46.8%). There is significant difference in the specific knowledge of transmission of STH (AOR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.48–0.81, p = 0.000), complication of STH infections (AOR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.61–0.98, p = 0.034), accurate knowledge of deworming frequency (AOR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.18– 0.90, p = 0.026), and knowledge of PC drug, mebendazole (AOR = 0.28, 95% CI: 0.09–0.90, p = 0.031), and pyrantel (AOR = 8.03, 95% CI: 2.22–29.03, p = 0.001) between mothers who periodically deworm their PSAC and those who do not. There is no significant difference in specific knowledge of the symptoms of STH infections (AOR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.57–1.02, p = 0.069) and PC drug, Albendazole (AOR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.46–2.11, p = 0.972). FGD revealed misconceptions that are rooted in stark ignorance of the disease. Overall attitude to deworming is positive and favourable. Conclusions: Poor coverage of periodic deworming for STH infections in PSAC in this setting are primarily driven by poor specific knowledge of the risks and burden of the infection. Focused health education on the burden and transmission of STH infections could complement existing strategies to improve periodic deworming of PSAC in this setting. Keywords: Soil-transmitted helminths, Preschool-aged children, Deworming, Periodic chemotherapy, Mixed-methods, Urban slum, Nigeria
Background Playing in the sand and getting dirty is part of childhood, but these innocent childhood fun activities put millions of children in developing countries at risk of contracting * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Health Policy and Administration, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
soil-transmitted helminths (STH) – intestinal worms dwelling in humans that are transmitted through contaminated soil [1, 2]. One of the three main STH infections – Roundwo
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