Enteroparasitoses e fatores associados em quilombolas da comunidade Ilha de São Vicente no norte do Estado do Tocantins

Abstract

Intestinal parasitosis are one of the determining indicators of the socioeconomic development of a country. Minority populations as quilombolas are included in the risk groups that present high rates of health problems, among them, the enteroparasitosis, related mainly to cultural and geographic isolation. A study was performed to investigate the occurrence of enteroparasitosis and associated factors in quilombolas from São Vicente Island community in the north part of the state of Tocantins. The experimente was a cross-sectional, descriptive study with a quantitative approach. It was carried out in April and May 2017, through the collection of stool samples for parasitological analysis and application of a questionnaire from the Brazilian Association of Research Institutes, additioned with socioeconomic, environmental and sanitary factors of the community. The data were analyzed with Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS, 23.0) adopting a level of significance of 5% (p <0.05). From a total of 86 individuals surveyed, 39 (45.3%) presented intestinal parasites, nine (23.1%) of which were infested with two different intestinal worms. The geohelminths Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura were the most prevalent among pathogens, with 8 (16.6%) and 6 (12.5%) infested individuals, respectively. Regardless of the place of residence (urban or rural), risk factors such as: precarious or nonexistent basic sanitation, associated with the adoption of inadequate hygiene measures and low socioeconomic levels, exposed the quilombola community to intestinal parasitosis. Ensuring the improvement of environmental sanitation, housing habitability, facilitation of the availability of antiparasitics, accessibility to health services and information that mitigates health problems are important measures to reduce the prevalence of enteroparasites in the quilombola community.