Abstract:
Introduction: Hand washing is the act of washing hands with plain or antimicrobial soap and water. It is a very important public health tool in disease control. Improving hand washing practices of mothers is important in developing countries to reduce child morbidity, mortality, and hygiene-related illnesses.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of hand washing practice at critical time and its associated factors among mothers of under-five children in rural communities of Ambo District, West Shoa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia, 2020.
Methods: A community based cross-sectional study design was employed among 340 of mothers/care givers of under five children living in rural areas of Ambo district using simple random sampling technique (computer generation) method from May to June, 2020.The data were entered into the Epi-info version 7.2.2.6 and exported to SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, was used to present the study results. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to test the association of dependent and independent factors. Variables with a 95% confidence interval and p ≤0.25 during the bivariate logistic regression analysis were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis. Variables with p ≤ 0.05in multivariate logistic regression analysis were considered as significantly associated with variables under the study.
Results: The response rate of the study participants was 95.8%. Two hundred thirty-three of mothers/caregivers 68.5 %( 95% (CI = 63.5, 73.5 %) were graded as good hand washing practice. Mean age was 31.21 years (±6.603 SD). Age <24, [AOR = 0.153, 95% CI ((0.0537, 0.437)], good knowledge [AOR = = 4.378, 95% CI (1.586, 12.084)] Distance of water ≥15 (min) [AOR = 0.537, 95% CI (0.308, 0.936)], and location of hand washing facility [AOR = 0.161, 95% CI (0.068, 0.382)] were significantly associated factors with hand washing practice at critical times.
Conclusion: The proportion of hand washing practice at critical times was relatively high compared to previously conducted research. Variables such as knowledge of mothers, age of mothers, distance of water source from house hold, and location of hand washing facility had significant association with hand washing practice at critical times. Even though hand washing practice at critical times in the current study was relatively high, still efforts must be made to overcome the problem caused by poor hand washing practice by enhancing health promotion for hand washing practice at critical times with involvement of the community to improve their hand washing practice at critical times to reduce under-five diarrheal disease and respiratory infection
