Hygienic practices and diarrheal illness among persons living in at-risk settings in Kabul, Afghanistan: a cross-sectional study

BMC Infectious Diseases

Research Article

Mari Asami¹  Matthew L. Boulton²  Bradley F. Carlson²  Abram L. Wagner²  Mohammad Yousuf Mubarak³ 

[1] Area on Water Management, Department of Environmental Health, National Institute of Public Health, 2-3-6 Minami, 351-0197, Wako, Saitama, Japan;Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, USA;Department of Microbiology, Kabul Medical University, Jamal Mina, 3rd District, University Road, Kabul, Afghanistan;

关键词: Drinking water;    Hand washing;    Sanitation;    Hygiene;    Diarrheal diseases;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12879-016-1789-3

 received in 2015-12-04, accepted in 2016-08-18,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSustained civil and military conflict, resulting in large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDP), in combination with rapid urbanization has strained public health and sanitation within cities in Afghanistan. In order to examine the association between preventive sanitary behaviors and diarrhea within two high risk settings located within Kabul, Afghanistan, this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of hygienic practices and diarrheal illness in an IDP camp and an urban slum.MethodsIn this cross sectional study, a convenience sample of residents of an IDP camp and an urban slum in Kabul, Afghanistan, was used. Participants were asked to describe their hygienic practices and interviewers independently documented household sanitation. The knowledge and attitudes about and practice of hygienic activities to prevent diarrhea were compared between the two settings.ResultsTwo hundred participants, 100 from each setting, were enrolled. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding hygienic activities to prevent diarrhea were greater among the slum dwellers than the IDP. Fewer than half of participants washed their hands with soap before eating or after eating: 31 % of slum dwellers washed before eating compared to 11 % of IDPs (P = 0.0050), and 25 % of slum dwellers washed after defecating compared to 4 % of IDPs (P = 0.0020). The IDPs were more likely to share a latrine (P = 0.0144) and less likely to disinfect their latrine than slum dwellers. Diarrhea in the household within the past 3 months was more common in the IDP camp (54 %) than the slum (20 %) (P = 0.0020).ConclusionsEven though certain sanitary and hygienic practices were more common among slum dwellers than IDPs, the lack of hygienic activities in both setting indicates that interventions to change behavior, like increasing the availability of soap and encouraging hand washing, are needed. Any initiative will have to be developed in the context of pervasive illiteracy among persons in both of these settings.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016