Handwashing behaviour of caregivers and reported diarrhoea among under five Children in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region of Ghana.
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Date
September, 2019
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Abstract
Background: The crucial role of HWWS, sanitation in diarrheal disease causation is reported
all over the world. For decades, diarrheal disease has contributed significantly to morbidity
and mortality in both developing and developed countries, its implication is usually evident
in developing countries than the developed ones. The study seeks to make the necessary
recommendations to policy makers to develop and implement strategies necessary for curbing
canker of diarrhoea especially among the rural poor.
Methods: Data was collected from 6 subdistricts in the Bongo District involving 422
participants out of which 16 were non respondents using convenient sampling. Methods of
data analyses included, simple logistic regression, Chi square test, and multivariate logistic
regression.
Results: Results from the study showed a good knowledge of caregivers on HWWS 89.3%
with a rather 52.1% of the respondents knowing the true definition of diarrhea. there was no
statistically significant relationship between the care givers knowledge on hand washing and
the occurrence of diarrhea (OR: 1.11; 95% CI 0.52, 2.37, p=0.78). Also, the attitude of the
respondents was high at 92.6%. Furthermore, the factors inhibiting HWWS among those
which were statistically significant include, Water Scarcity(p=0.004), HWWS affect appetite
(p=0.001), Hands not visibly dirty(p=0.002) and Feeling of low risk(p=0.001).
Conclusions: In conclusion, even though there is a high knowledge level of caregivers to
handwashing with soap under running water, there is no positive relation of the high
knowledge to reported cases of diarrhea and this study therefore urges policy makers and the
general populace to translate the knowledge into practice of HWWS as well as an enabling
environment for good sanitation practices for the prevention of diarrhea.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department Of Health Education and Promotion, College of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science of Public Health in Health Promotion and Education.
Keywords
Handwashing, visibly dirty, Water, Soap, Running water.