Análise crítica das variáveis avaliadas como fatores de risco para toxocaríase humana

Abstract

Toxocariasis is a neglected zoonosis of worldwide distribution, particularly occurring in vulnerable populations. Serosurveys have been carried out to evaulate risk factor associated with toxocariasis. Nevertheless, such analysis has not followed a standard regard to the presentation of the results. Thuerefore, the current study aimed to perform a bibliometric analysis of serosurveys to compare how the risk factors associated to toxocariasis were presented. It was adopted a survey strategy of PubMed/Medline, Embase, Scopus and Scielo Databases, from January 2010 to September 2023, based on the serosurveys evaluating the associated risks for toxocariasis (socioeconomic information, contact with pets (dogs and/or cat), food consumption, hygiene habits, and environment exposition to toxocariasis). A combination of uniterms [(toxoc∗) AND (prevalence OR seroepidem∗ OR serol∗ OR seroprevalence) AND (risk factor∗)] was employed for selecting the infromation. A total of 78 transversal studies from different geographic regions (classified by the World Health Organization) were included herein. It was observed that the information regards the risk factor associated to toxocariasis were widely presented in the result section/table of the scientific papers. Further, some important variables related to the transmission of toxocariasis were not approached. Based on this critical analaysis of the literature, it is possible to argue the need for the elaboration of strutuctured questionnaire by experts to evaluate the risk factors for toxocariasis. Such instrument may serve as basis for future epidemiological serosurveys and metanalytic studies on human toxocariasis.