| Correlates of access to hand hygiene resources in Ghanaian households: An
exploratory analysis of the 2014 demographic and health survey |
| Authors: |
Paul Lawer Kenney, Herman Nuake Kofi Agboh, Florence Akosua Agyemang, Seth Sylvester Dadzie, Henry Ofori Duah, and Pascal Agbadi |
| Source: |
Heliyon, 6(8): e04684; DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04684 |
| Topic(s): |
Sanitation
|
| Country: |
Africa
Ghana
|
| Published: |
AUG 2020 |
| Abstract: |
Objectives: Handwashing with soap and water remains the most effective public health measure to reduce the risk
of infectious diseases, which kill over 2.5 million people annually, mostly children in developing countries. The
absence of hand hygiene resources in homes put many at risk of these infectious diseases. In the wake of the
outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and governments around the world
have stressed the importance of regular handwashing to prevent the spread of the virus. This suggests that
research on water, sanitation, and hygiene issues deserve continuous scholarly attention. In Ghana, studies on
household's access to hand hygiene resources are few and relatively old. Therefore, this study estimated the
proportion of Ghanaian households with access to hand hygiene resources and their associated determinants
using data from a recent national survey.
Methods: The study used the cross-sectional 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys dataset. We used
STATA-14 to perform data analyses on a weighted sample of 11,710.06 households. We used complex samples
analysis technique to adjust for sample units, stratification and sample weights for both the descriptive statistics
and multivariate robust Poisson regression.
Results: The result showed that about one fifth of Ghanaian households had access to hand hygiene resources.
Households with heads who attained a Middle/JHS/JSS or Secondary/SSS/SHS/Higher level education, those
headed by persons having at least 30–44 years, and non-poorest households, and from the Volta region were more
likely to have access to hand hygiene resources. Further, households in urban areas, households that spent between
0-30 min to get to a source of water, and households in Eastern and Brong-Ahafo regions were less likely to
have access to hand hygiene resources.
Conclusion: This study identified key socioeconomic and demographic correlates of a household's access to hand
hygiene resources in Ghana. In the interim, the government and development partners can provide hand hygiene
resources to households with limited or no access. For the long term, we recommend that the government should
implement measures and policies that facilitate citizens' economic independence and their attainment of higher
formal education. |
| Web: |
https://www.cell.com/heliyon/pdf/S2405-8440(20)31527-9.pdf |
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