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ABSTRACT
Globally, thousands of people die every day due to infections and transmission of germs primarily occurs through contaminated hands. This study assessed, generally, the knowledge of hand washing methods among urban dwellers in Oredo and Ikpoba-okha Local Government Areas, Edo state. The specific objectives were to; describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents, ascertain respondents’ awareness of the importance of hand washing, ascertain respondents knowledge of hand washing practice, examine the effectiveness of hand washing practices accessible to the respondents and identify the constraints to effective hand washing practice among the respondents. A two stage sampling technique was employed in this study. Data for this study were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were obtained through the use of structured questionnaire administered through interview schedule to one hundred and fifty (150) randomly selected respondents from the study area. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson product moment correlation. Results from the descriptive statistic showed that majority (51.3%) of the respondents was female, and majority (58.7%) was married. The mean age, mean household size and mean average monthly income were 35 years, 5 members and N66,781.64 respectively. The result showed that only 1.3% of the respondents had no formal education while majority (98.7%) had undergone formal education. Furthermore, 51.3% indicated that there had been hand washing programmes in the community carried out by corps members and health workers. Washing hands before and after eating and after visiting the toilet were the frequent cases of hand washing. Majority (97.4%) indicated to keep the hands cleans as the major importance of hand washing. The use of soap and water was the commonly known hand washing method but respondents make use of ordinary water more often. Forgetfulness, lack of scientific information regarding impact of hand hygiene, lack of active participation in hand hygiene promotion, lack of administrative sanction of non-compliers or rewarding to compliers to perform hand hygiene were the majorly identified constraints to effective hand washing practices. Results of Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation showed household size and average monthly income were the significant variables that correlated with the perceived importance of hand washing at 1% level of probability. The study concluded that respondents were aware of the importance of hand washing and practice hand washing but lack knowledge of scenarios to wash hands. Respondents wash hands before and after eating, also after using the toilet, but lack knowledge of washing x their hand after leaving the house and coming back, after shaking hands with people, after touching surfaces, and after doing some chores.
