Associations of Hand-Foot-Mouth disease incidence among children of different age groups in kindergartens / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To explore the associations of Hand-Foot-Mouth disease (HFM) among children of different age groups in kindergartens, and to provide scientific evidence for HFM prevention and control.@*Methods@#Cluster sampling was used to select 9 912 children from 40 kindergartens. The major caregivers of children were invited to participate into the study and fulfill a self-administered questionnaire that consisted of general background, hand washing and the history of HFM among children in the recent 1 year. Chi-square and binary logistic regression were applied,to analyze the influencing factors of HFM among children of different age groups.@*Results@#In the 2 year-old-group, children who were male (OR=1.76, 95%CI=1.24-2.50), had the major caregiver with high school educational background or below (OR=1.54, 95%CI=1.06-2.24), had family income more than 100 000 yuan or more per year(OR=1.49, 95%CI=1.01-2.20), children whose major caregiver seldom wash hands immediately after coming home(OR=2.10, 95%CI=1.05-4.19)，and 3-5 times per week(OR=2.07, 95%CI=1.26-3.41) were more likely to have HFM. In the 3 year-old-group, the more time children spent in the outdoors, the less likely they got HFM(3-5 times per week OR=0.58, 95%CI=0.43-0.81; ≥6 times per week OR=0.45, 95%CI=0.29-0.70). Children whose major caregiver did not use soap were more likely to have HFM(OR=1.67, 95%CI=1.11-2.49). In the 4 year-old-group, children who occasionally took toys when going out were less likely to get HFM (vs always, OR=0.57, 95%CI=0.38-0.88). No significant factors were found in the 5 year-old-group.@*Conclusion@#The behaviors and activities of major caregivers and children could influence the HFM incidence.To prevent HFM, it was advised that the major caregivers should wash hands immediately after coming home, and develop the habit of using soap for handwashing together with children at the earlier age, and encourage children to take more outside-door activities according to the age characteristics. Attention should be paid to avoid contaminating takeout snacks, and to clean the takeout toys timely.