Table 6. Significant associations between parasitic infections and household assets, hygiene, and defecation behavior.
| Parasite | Association | Adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) | P-valuea |
| S. haematobium | Christian | 1.00 | |
| Muslim | 7.18 (2.60–19.80) | <0.001 | |
| Animist | 2.10 (1.47–3.00) | <0.001 | |
| Hand washing for personal hygiene | 3.50 (1.68–7.28) | 0.001 | |
| Use of pond water for hand washing | 3.76 (1.75–8.08) | 0.001 | |
| Hand washing time points spontaneously correct answered | 2.61 (1.52–4.49) | <0.001 | |
| Soil–transmitted helminths | |||
| Hookworm | Latrine | 0.63 (0.40–1.00) | 0.050 |
| Hand washing to prevent diseases | 0.75 (0.58–0.98) | 0.037 | |
| Defecation in the bush | 1.70 (1.07–2.69) | 0.025 | |
| Children defecating in latrine | 0.53 (0.34–0.83) | 0.006 | |
| Children defecating in the bush | 1.64 (1.06–2.54) | 0.027 | |
| A. lumbricoides | Christian | 1.00 | |
| Muslim | 0.27 (0.09–0.87) | 0.028 | |
| Knowledge of parasitic worms | 0.39 (0.20–0.78) | 0.008 | |
| T. trichiura | Hand washing to prevent diseases | 0.37 (0.16–0.86) | 0.020 |
| Children defecating in latrine | 0.50 (0.25–1.00) | 0.048 | |
| Intestinal protozoa | |||
| E. hartmanni | Farmer | 0.54 (0.33–0.90) | 0.019 |
| Drinking water from pump | 0.52 (0.29–0.94) | 0.031 | |
| Defecation in latrine | 0.27 (0.11–0.67) | 0.005 | |
| E. coli | Christian | 1.00 | |
| Muslim | 0.75 (0.64–0.88) | <0.001 | |
| Fisher | 1.57 (1.30–1.91) | <0.001 | |
| E. nana | Christian | 1.00 | |
| Muslim | 0.81 (0.67–0.99) | 0.039 | |
| Latrine | 0.80 (0.66–0.97) | 0.027 | |
| I. mesnili | Christian | 1.00 | |
| Muslim | 0.58 (0.40–0.85) | 0.004 | |
| Animist | 0.80 (0.65–1.00) | 0.047 | |
| Other religion | 0.57 (0.44–0.75) | <0.001 | |
| C. bütschlii | Christian | 1.00 | |
| Muslim | 0.51 (0.29–0.91) | 0.023 | |
| Animist | 1.53 (1.09–2.15) | 0.014 | |
| B. hominis | Fisher | 0.61 (0.37–0.98) | 0.041 |
| Hand washing to prevent diseases | 0.71 (0.51–0.97) | 0.030 | |
The study was carried out among 431 households in the Taabo health demographic surveillance system in south-central Côte d’Ivoire in July 2011. Logistic regression analysis was used with village level exchangeable random effects. Variables included as potential confounders were age groups (<5, 5–14, 15–24, 25–40, and >40 years), wealth quintiles and sex whenever age, sex, and socioeconomic status were significantly associated with a given parasitic infection.
No significant associations for E. histolytica/E. dispar and G. intestinalis with household assets, hygiene, and defecation behavior have been found after correction for potential confounders (sex, age group, or wealth quintile).
a
P-value based on Wald test.