Prevalence of Tinea Among School Children Living in Urban Chidambaram and Its Associated Risk Factors: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Tinea infection is one of the common contagious human skin diseases. Though all age groups are found to be susceptible to Tinea infection, children are actually at high risk. The study objective was to nd out the prevalence and associated risk factors for Tinea among the school children aged 11 to 14 years in Chidambaram. Methods: This cross-sectional study was done among 11 to 14 years old school children between the period of October to December 2019 in urban Chidambaram. Data was obtained by using a pretested semi structured questionnaire. Diagnosis of tinea was made by a trained investigator. Collected data was then entered in Microsoft excel and analysed by using SPSS software. Results: Prevalence of tinea was found to be 10.3%. Various socio demographic factors, personal hygiene aspects and housing conditions like age of the student, bathing regularly, overcrowding, type of house was found to be statistically associated with tinea. Conclusions: Modication of some of the risk factors like overcrowding, type of house, will help in controlling the spread of Tinea.