Table 1.
Distributions of environmental and socio-economic characteristics by area of residence for study subjects
| Characteristic | Rural | Urban | P value* |
|---|---|---|---|
| (N = 210) | (N = 230) | ||
| Socio-demographic | |||
| Age (years) | |||
| Median (range) | 11 (7–18) | 9 (6–14) | <0.001 |
| Sex | |||
| Male/female (%) | 56.2/43.8 | 48.5/51.5 | 0.106 |
| Ethnicity | |||
| Afro-Ecuadorian/Mestizo (%) | 97.1/2.9 | 74.2/25.8 | <0.001 |
| Maternal educational level (%) | |||
| Illiterate | 49.5 | 15.7 | <0.001 |
| Primary complete | 43.8 | 47.7 | |
| Secondary complete | 6.7 | 36.6 | |
| Monthly income (US$) | |||
| Median (range) | 195 (10–5,000) | 220 (0–3,000) | 0.072 |
| Body mass index | |||
| Median (range) | 17.6 (16.1-20.0) | 16.3 (15.5-18.1) | <0.001 |
| Environmental/hygiene | |||
| Pets inside the house (%)§ | 65.1 | 58.1 | 0.173 |
| Crowding (persons/sleeping room) | |||
| Median (range) | 2.67 (2–4) | 2.67 (2–4) | 0.974 |
| Birth order | |||
| 1st-2nd | 37.1 | 51.6 | 0.020 |
| 3rd-4th | 31.4 | 25.8 | |
| ≥5th | 31.4 | 22.6 | |
| Bathroom (%) | |||
| Field | 45.2 | 2.6 | <0.001 |
| Latrine | 48.6 | 25.8 | |
| WC | 6.2 | 71.6 | |
| Daycare attendance (%) | 58.2 | 33.99 | <0.001 |
| Drinking water sources* | |||
| Rain (%) | 70.5 | 1.3 | <0.001 |
| River (%) | 57.6 | 1.3 | <0.001 |
| Well (%) | 31.9 | 1.3 | <0.001 |
| Piped (%) | 46.7 | 0 | <0.001 |
| Potable (%) | 1.9 | 98.7 | <0.001 |
| House construction materials (%) | |||
| Wood/bamboo | 58.3 | 26.5 | <0.001 |
| Wood/cement | 18.7 | 27.7 | |
| Cement/brick | 23.0 | 45.8 | |
| Environmental/farming | |||
| Father with agricultural occupation (%) | 75.2 | 47.7 | <0.001 |
| Number of per-domiciliary animals† | |||
| 0 | 5.7 | 5.8 | <0.001 |
| 1-3 | 49.3 | 66.2 | |
| ≥4 | 45.0 | 26.0 | |
| Contact with large farm animals‡ (%) | 20.6 | 3.2 | <0.001 |
| Environmental/infections (%) | |||
| Any geohelminth | 73.5 | 20.9 | <0.001 |
| A. lumbricoides | 50.0 | 9.6 | <0.001 |
| T. trichiura | 62.0 | 16.8 | <0.001 |
| G. intestinalis | 8.5 | 15.0 | 0.040 |
| E. histolytica/dispar | 27.0 | 15.9 | 0.005 |
| Recent anthelmintic treatment (%)¶ | 66.0 | 85.6 | <0.001 |
*P values calculated using the Chi-squared, Fisher’s exact test, or Mann–Whitney test as appropriate. **Households, especially in the rural area, have multiple sources of drinking water that vary by season. † − numbers of the following different animals: dog, cat, pig, chicken, cow, donkey, horse. § dog and or cat passing freely inside house. ‡ at least once weekly. ¶ - within previous 12 months