Publication:

Prevalence of scabies among school children living in urban Chidambaram and its associated risk factors: a cross sectional study

Background Scabies is one of the common contagious human skin diseases with prevalence of 0.2 to 71.4% around the world. Though all age groups are susceptible to scabies, children are at high risk. The study objective was to find out the prevalence and associated risk factors for scabies among the school children aged 11 to 14 years in Chidambaram.

Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out among 11 to 14 years old school children between October to December 2019 in urban Chidambaram. Data was collected using a pretested semi structured questionnaire. Diagnosis of scabies was made by a trained investigator. Collected data were entered in Microsoft excel and analysed by using SPSS software version 23.

Results Prevalence of scabies was found to be 22.4%. Three variables namely; age of the student, overcrowding, type of house was found to be statistically associated with scabies.

Conclusions Modification of environmental risk factors like overcrowding, type of house, will aid in controlling the spread of scabies.