Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of head pediculosis among school children in urban and rural areas of Eastern Ahvaz, southwestern Iran, during 2008 to 2013. Design: Descriptive-analytical study Setting: School of Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Subjects: Totally 5730 pupils from elementary, middle and high schools were randomly selected by multistep method. Intervention: Data was collected through school screening programs by trained persons using a questionnaire that included the information on the diagnostic result of head lice. The screening method was by inspection. The results and demographic data were analyzed by SPSS software. Main outcome measure: We considered the following demographic and epidemiological parameters: age, gender, educational level, history of infestation, season and geographical area. Results: The infestation of head lice was 5730 cases. Of those affected with pediculosis, 75.6 lived in villages and 24.4 were rural residents. Most of the patients were found in the autumn (60). Overall, 79.6 of students with pediculosis studied in primary schools, and 17.9 of those infested with pediculosis had a previous history of this infestation. The prevalence of pediculosis was higher in females than in males (97.2 vs. 2.8, respectively). Conclusion: Our results on the higher prevalence of head pediculosis in females than in males are in line with many previous researches. Meanwhile, the rate of infested children was different according to the age groups. These differences might be associated with behavioral variations in different genders and age groups. © 2020, Kuwait Medical Association. All rights reserved.