Impact of the health education and preventive equipment package (HEPEP) on prevention of Strongyloides stercoralis infection among rural communities in Northeast Thailand: a cluster randomized controlled trial

Table 4 Behavior factors at 3 months assessment after starting a full health education program in the intervention group and receiving a lecture in the control group

Behaviors	Intervention			Control			Odds Ratios (95%CI) Compare between intervention and control group at 3 month ^c
	Baseline (n = 349)	3 month (n = 349)	Difference between proportions	Baseline (n = 338)	3 month (n = 338)	Difference between proportions
	n (%)	n (%)	difference (95%CI)^a	n (%)	n (%)	difference (95%CI)^b
Directly contacted soil
Yes	332 (95.13)	301 (86.25)	8.88 (4.70 to 13.07)*	310 (91.71)	289 (85.50)	6.21 (1.75 to 10.68)**	0.94 (0.61 to 1.44)
Animal fertilizer use
Yes	288 (82.52)	107 (30.66)	51.86 (45.76 to 57.96)*	250 (73.96)	124 (36.69)	37.27 (31.04 to 43.52)*	1.31 (0.95 to 1.78)
Steroid drug use
Yes	65 (18.62)	39 (11.17)	7.45 (2.26 to 12.63)**	88 (26.04)	60 (17.75)	8.29 (2.68 to 13.88)**	1.71 (1.11 to 2.65)**
Defecation into surrounding environment
Yes	292 (83.67)	196 (56.16)	27.51 (21.56 to 33.45)*	214 (63.31)	109 (32.25)	31.06 (24.79 to 37.34)*	0.37 (0.27 to 0.51)*

^aMean difference in intervention group between baseline and three-month assessment after deworming using pair McNemar’s test
^bMean difference in control group between baseline and three-month assessment after deworming using pair McNemar’s test
^cCompared between intervention and control group at 3 months using a chi-squared test
*Statistically significant difference, P-value < 0.001
**Statistically significant difference, P-value < 0.05

ISSN: 1471-2458