Auto diagnóstico de pediculose por indivíduos de uma comunidade economicamente desfavorecida: alta sensibilidade e especificidade

• Autor(a) principal: Pilger, Daniel
• Data de Publicação: 2008
• Outros Autores: Khakban, Adak, Heukelbach, Jorg, Feldmeier, Hermann
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Texto Completo: https://www.revistas.usp.br/rimtsp/article/view/31164
• topic: Head lice; Epidemiology; Diagnosis; Sensitivity; Specificity; Predictive values

To compare sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of self-diagnosis for head lice infestation with visual inspection, we conducted a study in an urban slum in Brazil. Individuals were asked about active head lice infestation (self-diagnosis); we performed visual inspection and thereafter wet combing (gold standard). Of the 175 individuals included, 77 (44%) had an active head lice infestation. For self-diagnosis, sensitivity (80.5%), specificity (91.8%), PPV (88.6%) and NPV (85.7%) were high. Sensitivity of visual inspection was 35.1%. Public health professionals can use self-diagnosis as a diagnostic tool, to estimate accurately prevalence of pediculosis in a community, and to monitor ongoing intervention strategies.