Assessment of Personal Hygiene Attitudes among Primary School Pupils in Umbada Locality, Khartoum state (2018-2020), Sudan

Abstract

Background: Personal hygiene is the behaviors that must be practiced in daily life, starting from morning to sleep time to protect our health.
 Objectives: The current study aimed to assess personal hygiene attitudes among Primary School Pupils in Umbada Locality, Khartoum state, Sudan (2018-2020).
 Materials and methods: An observational interventional study was conducted besides a pre- & post-assessment was done. Pre-test and post-test intervention was used to determine the practices of hygiene among primary school Pupils in some selected schools of Umbada locality Alaemir unit. The targeted populations were primary school Pupils in Government schools only. The study populations were the pupils in the Primary public schools by a total number of 37850 Pupils (grade 5, grade 6 and grade7) distributed among 180 public primary schools in the locality. The sample size consisted of (800) pupils during the period of the study. A pre- and post- questionnaire was carefully prepared, tested and directed to the pupils. It covers pupil’s age, sex, and the classroom., source of water supply and latrine in the house there, and to obtain data regarding knowledge, attitudes, and practices (as regards personal hygiene in both pre and post intervention phases. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS Computer Program Version (19.0). 
 Results: The study revealed that the overall attitude of pupils, about personal hygiene was increased from 45.8% to 54.2 % after intervention of health education sessions. 
 Conclusion: Health education has a significant role in promoting attitude of school pupils regarding personal hygiene. The need for more health education concerning personal hygiene to ensure that all children learn at an early age how to protect themselves and others from preventable exposure to illness and other hazards related to poor hygiene. This can be carried out through formal (as a part of the curriculum) and informal health education messages.