Abstract :
Background: Scabies is a contagious skin disease with a high prevalence in communal living environments such as dormitories. Although personal hygiene is commonly regarded as a key preventive factor, growing evidence suggests that environmental conditions, crowding, and close physical contact may play a more substantial role in scabies transmission. Students living in sports school dormitories represent a population at increased risk due to shared facilities and intensive daily interactions.
Objective: To determine the association between personal hygiene practices and scabies-like symptoms among students residing in the dormitory of a Sports Talent School in Kupang City, Indonesia.
Methods: This analytical observational study employed a cross-sectional design. A total of 59 students aged 14–17 years were selected using simple random sampling. Personal hygiene was assessed using a structured questionnaire, while scabies-like symptoms were identified based on three clinical cardinal signs: nocturnal pruritus, history of close contact with an affected individual, and the presence of lesions at predilection sites. Microscopic confirmation was not performed. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square test with a significance level of p < 0.05.
Results: Most respondents demonstrated good personal hygiene practices (80.8%). Scabies-like symptoms were identified in 25.4% of participants. Statistical analysis showed no significant association between personal hygiene status and scabies-like symptoms (p = 0.282). Descriptively, the proportion of scabies-like symptoms was higher among students with poor personal hygiene (41.7%) compared to those with good hygiene (21.3%); however, this difference was not statistically significant.
Conclusion: No significant association was found between personal hygiene practices and scabies-like symptoms among students living in the Sports Talent School dormitory in Kupang City. These findings suggest that factors beyond individual hygiene, such as dormitory crowding, shared facilities, and close interpersonal contact, may play a more prominent role in scabies transmission in communal living settings.
Keywords :
Adolescents, Cross Sectional Study, dormitory, Personal Hygiene, ScabiesReferences :
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