THE EFFECT OF VELOCITY VARIATION TESTING WITH THE FORMALDEHYDE-DETERGENT SEDIMENTATION METHOD ON THE EXAMINATION OF SOIL TRANSMITTED HELMINTHS

Abstract

Intestinal worm infections remain a public health problem in tropical areas, especially those caused by Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH) with the species Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and Hookworm. Accurate stool examination methods are essential to support diagnosis and control programs. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of variations in centrifugation speed with the 15% formaldehyde sedimentation method–5% detergent in detecting STH eggs. Method: The study was conducted at the Pharmaceutical Biology Laboratory of Anwar Medika University, Sidoarjo with a descriptive experimental design. Three types of suspension samples were examined with 92 replications. Microscopic examination used the 15% formaldehyde sedimentation method–5% detergent with variations in centrifugation speed of 2000, 3000, 4000, and 5000 rpm for 5 minutes. Identification of worm eggs was carried out based on the number and typical morphology of A. lumbricoides, T. trichiura, and hookworm. Data analysis used the Shapiro-Wilk test (p = 0.05) to assess initial differences between groups, then continued with ANOVA (p = 0.05) if the data met the assumptions of normality and homogeneity. Results: The results showed that variations in centrifugation speed affected the number of eggs detected. A speed of 3000 rpm for 5 minutes provided the most optimal results with higher sensitivity compared to other variations. In Data Analysis The data normality test using Shapiro-Wilk showed that all groups of centrifugation speed variations had a normal distribution (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the results of the homogeneity of variance test with Levene's Test also showed that the data were homogeneous (p > 0.05). Based on the ANOVA test, a p value <0.05 was obtained, indicating a significant difference between variations in centrifugation speed and the number of worm eggs detected. Further analysis showed that a speed of 3000 rpm for 5 minutes produced a more optimal number of eggs compared to other speed variations (2000, 4000, and 5000 rpm). Conclusion: The 15% formaldehyde–5% detergent sedimentation method with a centrifugation speed of 3000 rpm for 5 minutes increases the sensitivity of stool examination for intestinal worm infections, so it can be used as a more accurate alternative method for laboratory diagnosis.