Water and sanitation hygiene knowledge, attitude, and practices among household members living in rural setting of India

Abstract

Background:Rural population in developing countries face water, sanitation, and hygiene-related health issues. To objectively highlight these issues, we studied the knowledge, attitude, and practices-related to drinking water and sanitation facilities among the rural population of Chennai, India.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was designed involving individuals over 18 years of age living in Thandalam village, Chennai, India. Basic information about sociodemographic profile and existing drinking water and sanitation related knowledge, attitude, and practices was collected using a modified version of previously validated questionnaire and analyzed.Results:Forty-five percent of the participants were not following any methods of water treatment and among them half of the participants felt that water available to them was clean and did not require any additional treatment. Twenty-five percent of the participants surveyed did not have access to toilets inside their household.Conclusion:There is a need for intervention to educate individuals about drinking water treatment methods, sanitation, and hand washing practices.

Water and Sanitation Hygiene Practices for Under-Five Children among Households of Sugali Tribe of Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, India

“…Moreover, more than 90% of the households practiced retrieval of water using a glass without a ladle. A study conducted in rural Chennai reported that around 45% of the participants were not using any methods of water treatment [15]. A community-based cross-sectional study in rural Kerala among 103 mothers of under-five children found that nearly 96.1% of the mothers used boiled water for drinking [16].…”

“…In Andhra Pradesh, 80.5% of ST households did not have a sanitary latrine facility within the premises [2]. The proportion of households practicing open field defecation was very high compared to a study rural area of Chennai, which stated that around one-fourth of the study participants use community toilets, open defecation, or sharing of toilets [15]. This shows the recent integration of tribal communities into modern society.…”

Kap Study on Hygiene and Sanitation in a Selected Rural Area of Bangladesh

“…These findings are close to the findings of a study in carried out in India in 2015. 8 Study also revealed that 56.3 % of the respondentsopined safe water as germ free water, 11.7% opined smell free water, 14.2% opinedboth germ free and smell free and rest of them (17.8%) did not have any knowledge about it. Among respondents 87% used latrine for defecation and 13% did it in open places.…”

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Mothers Towards Typhoid Fever Disease

“…A study from Kenya had shown that eating food from commercial kiosks was a risk factor for Typhoid fever infection as those who ate from such food outlets suffered from typhoid more than those who did not (4) . Another study from Kenya, (N=220) has concluded 136 (62%) of the respondents agreed that poor sanitation practices by the public food vendors is a cause of typhoid fever in the community while 84 (38%) of the respondents said that poor sanitation practices among public food vendors is a cause of typhoid fever in the community (15) . Typhoid fever can spread through irrigation of crops using sewage contaminated with Salmonella typhi (16) .…”

“…A study from India (N=100) had concluded that the majority (95%) of the participants agreed that hand should be washed before and after meals, while only 32% felt that hand should be washed after defecation. Results showed that 83% of the participants used Water and soap to clean their hands (15) . In the present study, 73 (27.3%) of the mothers admitted they eat food from street vendors, the Pakistani study has showed more than half of the sample (60.5%, N=200) were routinely eat foods sold on carts by vendors which are unprotected from flies and dust (12) .…”