Haroon Yousaf, Muhammad Iqbal Zafar, Farkhanda Anjum, Sultan Ali Adil.
Hygiene; Determinants and its Impact on Diarrhea.
Professional Med J Jan ;25(6):920-31.

Background: Hygiene is very important aspect of health, it helps prevent many diseases. According to WHO, 25% admission to hospitals are due food and water borne diseases which can be prevented through good hygiene practices. Objectives: To check the hygiene status and practices of rural farmer and non-farmer households and to examine the determinants of hygiene status. Association between hygiene and diarrhea was also examined in this study. Study design: Cross sectional study. Research Area: Farmer and non-farmer rural households of Punjab. Period: April 2016 to January 2017. Material and Methods: probability sampling technique was used and a total of 576 households (50% farmer and 50% non-farmer) were surveyed from six districts of Punjab. Responses were obtained using a structured interview scheduled. SPSS version 24 was used for analysis. Results: Mean age for farmer and non-farmer households was about 50 and 47 years respectively. Mean number of schooling years for farmer and non-farmer households were 6.2 and 5.1 respectively. Average monthly income of farmer and non-farmer households was 24728 and 16432 PKR respectively. About 18% farmer and 27% non-farmer households had low hygiene status. About 11% farmer and 25% non-farmer households did not have any toilet. About 19% farmer and 24% non-farmer households reported that they had diarrhea at least once in last 6 months. Association between diarrhea and hygiene was found significant at p<0.01. Income and education were important determinants of hygiene status for both farmer and non-farmer households. Conclusion: Authors conclude that hygiene status varies for farmer and non-farmer households that can be explained by the difference in income, education and awareness. It was empirically established that better hygiene helps prevent diarrhea.

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