Prevalence and Associated Factors of Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections among Children Living with and without Open Defecation Practices in Northwest Ethiopia: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study

Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections cause devastating effect in human health. School-age children (SAC) account for the highest prevalence of STH infections in sub-Sahara. Open defecation practicing might be the major contributing factor, and creating an open defecation-free (ODF) declared community is also a big challenge. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of STH infections and associated factors among SAC in ODF declared and open defecation-practicing kebeles. A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 806 SAC from January 2019 to April 2019. Questionnaire-based data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Stool samples were collected and processed via the Kato-Katz technique. Prevalence and associated factors were computed with descriptive statistics and regression, respectively. Variables with a P-value < 0.05 were considered as significantly associated. This study revealed that the prevalence of STH infections in open defecation-practicing and ODF declared kebeles were 39.0% and 30.0%, respectively. Wearing open shoes, wearing shoes sometimes, and playing with soil were significantly associated (P < 0.01) with STH infections in ODF declared kebeles. Similarly, wearing shoes sometimes, not using latrine, and playing with soil were also significantly associated (P < 0.01) with STH infections in open defection-practicing kebeles. In conclusion, lower prevalence of STH infections was recorded in ODF declared than in open defection-practicing kebeles. Wearing shoes sometimes, playing with soil, and not using latrine were associated with STH infections. Therefore, creating an ODF environment and community awareness should be strengthened.