Hand washing practice among public primary school children and associated factors in Harar town, eastern Ethiopia: An institution-based cross-sectional study (original) (raw)

Frontiers in Public Health

BackgroundHand washing with soap and water reduces the risk of diarrheal episode by 28–48% and acute respiratory infection by 20–50%. However, there is limited evidence on hand washing practices among students in Eastern Ethiopia, particularly in Harari town. Therefore, this study aimed to determine hand washing practice among primary school students and associated factors in Harar town, Eastern Ethiopia.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study was applied among 670 students in Harar town from June 1 to 30, 2021. A multi-stage sampling was employed; 6 out of 20 schools were selected through simple random sampling, while eligible children from each school was selected by probability proportional to size sampling method. Data were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire with a face-to-face interview technique and via observation. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23. Binary and mult-variable analysis were used to determine the association between factors a...