Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Scabies in Relation to Hygiene and Other Factors in

Abstract: Objective: To determine frequency of Scabies and its relationship to hygiene and other factors in patients attending a tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Descriptive study. Place and Duration: Out patient Department (OPD) of Dermatology, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Hospital Jamshoro from June-July 2011. Methodology: A sample of 283 diagnosed cases of Scabies were selected through non-probability purposive sampling according to pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. History of scabies, hygiene and associated predisposing factors like overcrowding, sanitation, socioeconomic status etc were enquired. Data was collected through filling à pre-formed questionnaire and interviews of the patients. Data was analyzed on SPSS version 21.0. The continuous and categorical variables were analyzed by student`s t-test and chi-square test respectively. The significant p-value was taken at ≤ 0.05. Results: The frequency of scabies was found as 47.6%.The lowest age recorded was five months and oldest of 64 years. Scabies was more frequent in females (54%); however gender difference was statistically non-significant (p = 0.66), similar was statistical finding for the socio-economic status (p=0.87). Family history of scabies was positive in 82 % of patients. Irregular and infrequent bathing practice and sharing of clothes and towels were observed in 87 % and 85 % of patients respectively with statistically significant p-valu