Frequency of Deworming, Parental Perception and Factors Associated with the Practice of Deworming School-age Children in North-East Nigeria

Aims: To assess the frequency of deworming among school children, assess parental perception of the practice and the factors influencing school child deworming practices among the parents/guardians in Bauchi State.

Study Design: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in Bauchi State North-East Nigeria in March 2016 among parents/guardians of primary school pupils. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 12 out of 36 primary schools for the study.

Methods: There were 598 participants. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to elicit variables such as frequency of de-worming, parental perception and predictors of parents/guardian deworming practices.

Results: Nearly half 272 (45.5%) of the guardians were aware of deworming, while only 118 (19.7%) of their school children had been dewormed but 572 (95.7%) guardians saw deworming as an important practice and 560 (93.6%) wanted their children dewormed. Binary logistic regression showed that being a male child and having a previously dewormed child were positive predictors for the practice of school children’s deworming.

Conclusion: The frequency of de-worming practice is low in North-East Nigeria, this was majorly due to lack of awareness. This underscores the need for scaling-up of deworming exercises alongside sensitization and health education of parents/ guardian of primary school pupils.