The Incidence, Intensity, and Risk Factors for Soil Transmissible Helminthes Infections among Waste Handlers in a Large Coastal Periurban Settlement in Southern Ghana
Table 3
Sociodemographic and other risk factors associated with STH infections.
Sociodemographic/Risk factors
Helminthes infections 180 days after albendazole treatment
Frequency (%)
aORa (95% CI)
value
Sex
Male
6 (8.7)
1
Female
6 (2.8)
0.2 (0.0–0.8)
0.009
Age in years
<35
3 (3.3)
1
35 and above
9 (4.7)
1.0 (0.9–1.1)
0.790
No. of years worked
<1 year
6 (3.7)
1
1-2 years
1 (3.1)
—b
0.319
3-4 years
4 (5.2)
3.2 (0.6–18.4)
5 or more years
1 (11.1)
—
Number of hours worked
<1
1 (20.0)
1
1-2
0 (0.0)
—
3-4
10 (4.6)
—
0.691
>4
1 (4.0)
0.1 (0.0–7.0)
Waste handling activity
Sweeping
0 (0.0)
1
Disposal
0 (0.0)
—
Collection
1 (8.3)
8.3 (1.1–62.4)
0.963
Transportation
2 (40.0)
8.0 (0.08–87.0)
Sweeping and disposal
0 (0.0)
—
Sweeping and collection
5 (7.3)
8.1 (1.5–43.3)
Collection and disposal
2 (5.6)
1.0 (0.1–8.0)
Sweeping, collection, and disposal
2 (2.4)
—
Type of protective working gear
Wellington boot
10 (5.8)
—
—
Gloves
6 (3.7)
0.2 (0.2–1.9)
0.033
Mouth/nose cover
8 (8.9)
4.6 (2.0–16.6)
0.052
Overall apron
10 (4.9)
0.3 (0.0–3.2)
0.296
Exposure surfaces
Mouth/nose
7 (6.0)
2.5 (0.6–9.7)
0.184
Hands
11 (4.6)
1.2 (0.3–5.8)
0.780
Leg/feet
6 (4.7)
1.8 (0.5–6.9)
0.397
% represents row percentage; aaOR is the adjusted odds ratio estimate from a multivariable binary logistic regression analysis; bparameter estimates were not possible since the number of workers that had the outcomes of interest were zero.
