Intestinal helminthiasis and abdominal symptoms in adults

In a study to test the association between soil transmitted intestinal helminthiasis and abdominal symptoms in a non-paediatric age group, 242 randomly selected patients (137 males, 105 females, median age 45 years) were asked specific questions pertaining to abdominal symptoms at the time of admission to the adult medical wards. Stool examination on all patients revealed a round worm prevalence rate of 21%. A larger proportion of stool positive female patients were symptomatic than stool negative females (68% vs 30%, p = 0.04). There was no significant difference in symptoms between stool positive and stool negative male patients (34.6% vs 31%, p = 0.91). The results suggested an association between intestinal nematode infection and abdominal symptoms in females but not in males.