Evaluation of the effectiveness of deworming and participatory hygiene education strategy in controlling anemia among children aged 6-15 years in Gadagau community, Giwa LGA, Kaduna, Nigeria

Abstract

Anemia is one of the most common and most serious health disorders worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that about 40% of the total world's population (more than 2 billion individuals) suffer from anemia. In developing countries, the prevalence rate of anemia is about 20% in school-aged children. More than 10 million African children are thought to be anemic (Hb < 11 g/dl). Also, in Africa, it is estimated that more than half of all children over 5 years and pregnant women are anemic. Community-based estimates of anemia prevalence in settings where malaria is endemic range between 49% and 76%. In Nigeria, the prevalence rate for anemia among children was 29.4%. It was highest in the South-East (49.7%) and lowest in the North-East (11.1%). The study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of deworming and participatory hygiene education strategy in controlling anemia among children aged 6-15 years in the Gadagau community, north-western Nigeria. A cross-sectional descriptive study of 306 children aged 6-15 years selected from two rural communities (Gadagau, which was the study group and Karau-Karau, which was the control group) in the Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State Nigeria using a multistage sampling technique. The studies involved parasitological examination and anemia evaluation before and at 3 months after the children were dewormed. Only 301 children (150 children in study group and 151 children in control group) were studied. The results showed that those who were dewormed and had participatory hygiene education lectures (study group) had significantly higher mean hemoglobin, from an initial 10.4 g/dl to a post-intervention of 12.4 g/dl (paired t-test = 13.96; P = 0.00). Also, there was a rise in the mean hemoglobin of the control group, but not as much as in the study group, from an initial mean hemoglobin of 10.5 g/dl to a post-intervention of 11.2 g/dl (paired t-test = 2.89; P = 0.004). Comparing the study and the control groups, those who were dewormed and also had participatory hygiene education lectures (study group) had a significantly higher reduction in the level of children who had ova of intestinal helminthes present in their stool than those in the control group (Χ 2 = 31.61; df = 1, P = 0.00). This study therefore concludes that including participatory hygiene education to deworming programmes will greatly improve the hemoglobin level of children in areas where there is a high prevalence of hookworm infections, especially as a short-term preventive measure for anemia in children.