Prevalence of Pediculosis and Associated Risk Factors in the Girls primary School in Azadshahr City, Golestan Province, 2012-2013

Background and purpose: pediculosis (pediculus capitis) is a worldwide public health concernthat affects mostly on primary school-aged children. this descriptive study was performed todetermine the prevalence of pediculosis and some risk factors among girls primary school inazadshahr city, golestan province, iran.materials and methods: a total of 1510 girls were selected from primary schools of azadshahrfrom first to sixth grade. data were collected from the selected schools by one trained nursinginspector. a questionnaire was filled for each school child prior to hair examination, thenexamination was carried out to detect head lice as well as eggs/nits. data were analyzed usingspss for windows 16.0 and the chi-square test. statistical significance was considered at thelevel of (p < 0.05).results: of 1510 primary school girls under investigation, 55 were infected with pediculosiswith the average infection of 3.60%. the results showed significant variations in head liceinfestation, and factors such as sharing instruments, personal health, parents educations, bathingfacilities, hair length, family size, father profession, hair shape, health care employer (p < 0.05);while there was no significant variation in lice infestation when, frequency of mothersprofession and hair shape (p > 0.05).conclusion: increasing awareness and training of teachers and parents, as well as improvingstandards of personal health can significantly reduce the prevalence of pediculosis.