Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2026
Pages:
38-48
Received:
25 November 2025
Accepted:
29 December 2025
Published:
7 April 2026
DOI:
10.11648/j.sdh.20260101.15
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Abstract: Background: Scabies affects over 200 million people globally, with an estimated 5-50% of children living in communities of limited resources. Scabies is a widespread issue in Ethiopia, particularly during natural or man-made disasters like flooding, drought, and conflict, as well as when there is a lack of access to clean water and sanitary facilities and congested living circumstances. This study aimed to determine the scabies and its determinants among preschool children in East Badawacho District, Hadiya Zone of Central Ethiopia. Methods: A facility-based, unmatched case-control study with 348 participants compared scabies-infested preschool children to non-scabies preschool children for their past exposure to scabies in East Badawacho District, Central Ethiopia. The children's nutritional status was measured anthropometrically and analyzed using WHO Anthro software. Data were entered into EPI Data Version 3.1 and exported to SPSS Version 25 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable analyses were used to identify determinants of scabies, with statistical significance declared at a P-value less than 0.05. Result: The prevalence of stunting was 50.5% among cases and 45.2% among controls, while the prevalence of underweight was 24.3% among cases and 18% among controls. The prevalence of wasting was 17.8% in cases and 9.3% in controls. Severe wasting [AOR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.32, 5.47], mothers of preschool children who used less than 20 liters of water for daily activities [AOR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.02, 6.27], children who shared clothes with someone affected by scabies [AOR = 6.7, 95% CI: 2.98, 15.08], and children who wash their bodies with water only [AOR = 3.4, 95% CI: 1.37, 6.77] were the significant independent predictors associated with scabies infestation. Conclusion: Preschool children who were severely wasted, amount of water utilized for daily activity < 20 litres, sharing of cloth with scabies infected person, washing body with water only had significant role for the transmission of scabies. Therefore, scabies control programs should incorporate nutritional, and water sanitation interventions.
Abstract: Background: Scabies affects over 200 million people globally, with an estimated 5-50% of children living in communities of limited resources. Scabies is a widespread issue in Ethiopia, particularly during natural or man-made disasters like flooding, drought, and conflict, as well as when there is a lack of access to clean water and sanitary facilit...
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