Assessing the link between head lice infestation and selected cognitive-behavioral factors in a sample of Iranian female adolescents

Abstract

Background: Head lice infestation is a serious health issue among adolescents in Iran. The primary purpose of the study was to determine the association of head lice infestation with cognitive-behavioral factors in female adolescents. Methods: The study was cross-sectional, took place between September and October of 2017 in Sarab, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. Using a multi-stage sampling to recruit the study's 226 female adolescents, five of the Sarab's 13 schools were selected through simple random sampling. In the second step, the students were randomly selected using the systematic random sampling method. A survey questionnaire was used to collect the data. Findings: The prevalence rate of head lice was calculated 20.4%, and the subjects with head lice infestation had lower levels of severity, benefits, self-efficacy, and preventive behaviors. Those without head lice infestation reported adhering to preventive behaviors. The perceived severity and self-efficacy were the statistically significant predictors of head lice infestation and use of preventive behaviors. Conclusion: Public health authorities, with feedback from the community, must design and implement prevention programs, focusing on mothers and their school-aged children, school principals, and managers of public places as potential change agents. In addition to, perceived severity and self-efficacy should be considered as the key categories when developing these prevention programs.

Predictive and preventive Factors related to of head lice infestations among teenage girls student: Application of Health Belief Model

“…In current study, the preventive behavior more common in students who hadn't any experience of Head lice infestations, and it was the main protective factor of head lice infestations in teenage girl's student. Therefore the lower prevalence of head lice infestations may be related to adopting preventive behavior by them, these ndings were consistent with other studies (26,27). The same in Najjari quasiexperimental study, that the prevalence of pediculosis was signi cantly reduced following the educational interventions to changes in behavior (of 8.4% to 3%) (14).…”

Effect of Training Programs on the Promotion of Pediculosis Preventive Behaviors in Mothers

“…It pointed to the positive effect of educational intervention on mothers and improved pediculosis preventive behavior (19). In their study, Babazadeh et al stated that educational intervention has been effective in the promotion of pediculosis preventive behaviors in female elementary school students (25).…”

Head lice infestation and the role of some cognitive‐behavioral factors in its spread and prevention among adolescent girls: A cross‐sectional study in Northwest Iran

“…Head lice is a public health problem of worldwide distribution, particularly among school children 1 and girls are more likely to get head lice than boys 1‐4 . The prevalence of head lice was 20.4% among Iranian female adolescents 5 . In the other studies, the prevalence of head lice has been 23.38%, 6 and 26.3% 7 in Iran.…”