A Prospective Observational Study on the Prevalence And Associated Risk Factors of Scabies Among Paediatrics

Abstract

Objective: Scabies is a common dermatological disease in children and is associated with crowding, hygiene practices, socioeconomic status and interpersonal contact. In this study, it was intended to determine the prevalence and the risk factors associated with scabies in pediatric patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital.

Materials and Methods: The study was a prospective observational study, which took place in the dermatology and paediatric departments of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Salem, Tamil Nadu, for six months. The study was conducted on fifty-six children aged 1-12 years, who were randomly selected based on clinically suspected scabies. The data were collected on a proforma containing a routine structure regarding socioeconomic status, demographic characteristics, overcrowding, personal hygiene, clinical features, and treatment. The diagnosis was based on the guidelines of the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies (IACS). The analyses included descriptive statistics, Spearman's rank correlation test, and the Kruskal–Wallis test.

Results: The majority of the participants were aged 6-12 years (48.2%), and 58.9% of them were from rural areas. Moderate overcrowding was found in 42.86%, and moderate personal hygiene in 75% of the houses. The highest occurrence of lesions was in the genital area (21.43%) and interdigital areas (19.64%). The most common symptom was moderate itching (53.57%) and moderate severity of disease (66.07%). All the aforementioned variables: lesion count, overcrowding index, itching intensity, personal hygiene, and school attendance were found to be significantly correlated with severity score (p<0.001). Socio-economic status was significantly related to BMI, overcrowding, hygiene, severity and superinfection (p≤0.002).

Conclusions: The prevalence of scabies in children was related to overcrowding, health and personal hygiene, socioeconomic factors, and severity of the disease. Measures aimed at the house, hygiene habits and early treatment could be useful in alleviating the problem of scabies in children.