Prevalence of Pediculosis and Associated Risk Factors in Primary School Female Students of Tonekabon, Iran, in 2017-2018

Introduction and purpose: Currently, head louse is one of the sanitary problems in schools that results in physical, mental, and social problems in students. In this regard, the present study was conducted for the epidemiologic examination of head louse among the female students of the primary schools in Tonekabon, Iran, in 2017-2018. Methods: The present descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was carried out for the examination of head louse on a total of 1466 students who were randomly selected from 5817 cases after the cluster sampling method. Then, the data were collected using a questionnaire and head examination, and the analysis was performed in SPSS software version 20 using the Chi-square test and logistic regression. Results: Out of 1464 students, 292 (19%) subjects were infected with lice. In addition, the first-grade students were reported with a higher level of infection, compared to others. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between the prevalence of head louse with age, parental education, father occupation, personal hygiene, use of personal accessories, number of family members, neighborhood, number of taking showers, presence of a sanitary instructor in schools, sleeping beside others, and personal or family history of infection (P<0.05). Moreover, no significant relationship was observed between head louse with school-grade, mother occupation, as well as hair length and type (P>0.05).  Conclusion: The obtained results showed that there was an inverse relationship between parental education, presence of a sanitary instructor, personal hygiene, and number of taking showers with the prevalence of head louse in female students in primary schools. In this regard, it is necessary to promote the level of knowledge in the community for the control and prevention of the infection.