Hand hygiene: knowledge, attitude and practices among mothers of under 5 children attending a tertiary care hospital in North India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20180770Keywords:
Hand hygiene, Knowledge, Attitude, PracticesAbstract
Background: Hand hygiene remains the most cost effective strategy in prevention of health care associated infections as it may limit or completely stop the transmission of microorganisms. Poor hand hygiene practices, especially of the mothers of under five children are likely to pose a major threat to the health of their children. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of under-five mothers visiting an outpatient department in a tertiary teaching care hospital in North India.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 330 mothers who were attending with their under five children in paediatrics OPD of Government Medical College, Jammu. A self-administered questionnaire which was pilot tested was administered to the consenting mothers. The questionnaire consisted of socio demographic information followed by knowledge, attitudes and practices of the respondents about hand washing.
Results: Knowledge about spread of disease was excellent among the respondents. Other knowledge parameters like responsibility of mother to ensure proper hand washing among children and long nails can spread bacteria were better among the urban mothers (p<0.05). Similarly attitudes of the urban mothers were found to be more favourable especially about towel sharing and teaching children about proper hand washing (p<0.05). Practices like usage of soap and water after defecation were found to be excellent among both the urban and rural respondents. However higher proportion of urban females reminded their children about hand washing before and after eating (p<0.05).
Conclusions: The study results reveal a better knowledge, attitude and practices among urban mothers in comparison to their rural counterparts. This necessitates community awareness generation regarding hand hygiene, more so in rural mothers, so that many communicable diseases which could be transmitted by improper hand hygiene are taken care of.
References
Liu L, Johnson HL, Cousens S, Perin J, Scott S, Lawn JE, et al. Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality: an updated systematic analysis for 2010 with time trends since 2000. Lancet. 2012;379:2151-61.
Brady MT. Infectious disease in pediatric out-of-home child care. Am J Infect Control. 2005;33(5):276-85.
Ejemot RI, Ehiri JE, Meremikwu MM, Critchley JA. Hand washing for preventing diarrhoea. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008;1:CD004265.
Aiello AE, Coulborn RM, Perez V, Larson EL. Effect of hand hygiene on infectious disease risk in the community setting: a meta-analysis. Am J Public Health. 2008;98(8):1372-81.
Rabie T, Curtis V. Handwashing and risk of respiratory infections: a quantitative systematic review. Trop Med Int Health. 2006;11(3):258-67.
Ray SK, Dobe M, Majhi S, Chakraborty D, Sinha Roy AK, Basu SS. A pilot survey on handwashing among some communities of West Bengal. Indian J Public Health. 2006;50;227-30.
Luby SP, Agboatwalla M, Painter J, Altaf A, Billhimer W, Hoekstra RM. Effect of intensive handwashing promotion on childhood diarrhoea in high-risk communities in Pakistan: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2004;291(21):2547-2554.
Curtis V, Cairncross S. Effects of washing hands with soap on diarrhoea risk in the community: a systematic review. Lancet Infect Dis. 2003;3:275-81.
Nurul A Mohamed, Nur N Zulkifli Amin, Shalinawati Ramli, Ilina Isahak, Nooriah Mohamed Salleh. Knowledge, attitudes and practices of hand hygiene among parents of preschool children. J Scientific Innovative Res. 2016;5(1):1-6
Rottier WC, Ammerlaan HS, Bonten MJ. Effects of confounders and intermediates on the association of bacteraemia caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae and patient outcome: a meta-analysis. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2012; 67:1311–20.
Nematian J, Nematian E, Gholamrezanezhad A, Asgari AA. Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections and their relation with socio-economic factors and hygienic habits in Tehran primary school students. Acta Trop. 2004;92(30):179-86.
De Maumita, Taraphdar P. A Study on Water Sanitation Hygiene & Hand Washing Practices among Mothers Of Under 5 Children Attending Tertiary CareHospital In Kolkata, India. J Dental Med Sci. 2016;15(7):54-59
Kuberan A, Singh AK, Kasav JB, Prasad S, Surapaneni KM, Upadhyay V, et al. Water and sanitation hygiene knowledge,attitude, and practices among household members living in rural setting of India. J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2015;6(Suppl 1):69–74.
Pang J, Chua SWJL, Hsu L. Current knowledge, attitude, and behavior of hand and food hygiene in a developed residential community of Singapore: a cross-sectional survey. BMC Public Health. 2015;15:577.
Jefferson T, Del Mar CB, Dooley L, Ferroni E, Al-Ansary LA, Bawazeer GA, et al. Physical Interventions To Interrupt Or Reduce The Spread Of Respiratory Viruses. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2011;7:CD006207.
Yerpude PN, Jogdand KS, Sumra NA. A Cross-Sectional Study on Hand Washing Practices among Mothers in an Urban Slum Area. Int J Health Sci Res. 2014;4(10):1-5.
Ray SK, Zaman FA, Laskar BN. Hand washing practices in two communities of two states of eastern India: An Interventional Study. Indian J Pub Health. 2010;54:32-8.
Aithal KS, Ogorchukwu MJ, Prabhu V, Shriyan P, Yadav UN. Hand washing Knowledge and Practice among mothers of under-five children in coastal Karnataka, India – A cross sectional study. Int J Med Health Sci. 2014;3(4):266-71.
Huq MN, Tasnim T. Maternal Education and Child Healthcare in Bangladesh. Matern Child Health J. 2008;12 (1):43-51.
Lecky DM, McNulty CAM, Adriaenssens N, Herotova TK, Holt J, Touboul P, et al. What are school children in Europe being taught about hygiene and antibiotic use? J Antimicrob Chemother. 2011;66 Suppl 5:v13-v21.
