ABSENCE OF SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN INTESTINAL PARASITE PREVALENCE ESTIMATES AFTER EXAMINATION OF EITHER ONE OR TWO STOOL SPECIMENS
- 1 November 1989
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in American Journal of Epidemiology
- Vol. 130 (5) , 976-980
- https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115430
Abstract
The authors undertook a retrospective search of intestinal parasite laboratory records obtained from 200 consecutive-day pairs of stool specimens to compare prevalence estimates from the first and second stool examinations. The laboratory results had previously been recorded as part of a screening program offered to Southeast Asian refugees arriving in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, between July 1982 and February 1983. No statistically significant differences in either overall prevalences or parasite-specific prevalences were observed. This suggests that, at least in some population-based situations, single stool examinations provide estimates of intestinal parasite prevalence which are as valid as those from the routine examination of two consecutive-day specimens. Blinded studies must be undertaken to accurately assess the true value of multiple specimen submission in epidemiologic studies.Keywords
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