WATER HANDLING PRACTICE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG HOUSEHOLDS IN DIRE TEYARA DISTRICT, HARARI REGION, ETHIOPIA CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background; - In 2015, the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program me (JMP) estimated that 660 million people still do not have access to improved drinking-water sources, and over 2.4 billion people do not have access to improved sanitation. Water can be contaminated at the source, in the home, or during the journey in between. A water source that is not protected, a dirty container, or unwashed hands can easily turn water, even water that looks and tastes clean, into something that makes people ill. Three- fourth of the health problems of children in Ethiopia are communicable diseases due to polluted water and improper water handling practices. However, evidences are lacking on water handling practice and its associated factors in Ethiopia in general and particular in study area. 11 Objective; - The purpose of this study was to assess the water handling practice and associated factors in Dire-Teyara district from March 1-20, 2018. Method; - A community based cross sectional study design was conducted using quantitative methods. All households in Dire-Teyara district were the source population from which a total sample of 785 study households from selected kebeles were drawn. Random sampling technique was used and data collection and analyses were conducted using structured questionnaire interview and SPSS version 22 respectively and bivariate and multivariate analysis was conducted to identify significant risk factors. P-Value<0.05 and AOR with its 95%CI was used to report presence and strength of identified associations, respectively. Result; - Prevalence of good water handling practice of household in the study area was 484 (61.7%); 95% CI (58.0, 65.0). The study revealed that compared with those aged >45 years, those aged 18-30 years were about six times significantly higher odds of having good water handling practices [AOR=6.29 (3.00, 13.16))]. Prevalence of Good water handling practices were about 1.5 and 1.7 times significantly higher among literate [AOR=1.54 (1.04, 2.26)], and married participants [AOR=1.71 (1.02, 2.88)] respectively. Conclusion; - This study revealed that 38.3% of the respondents do not have good water handling practice.