Prevalence and Factors Associated with Hygiene Behaviours among In-School Adolescents in Ghana

Abstract

(1) Background: Despite a global call to act to resolve communicable diseases caused by lack of clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, many people in low- and middle-income countries continue to die each year. In this study, we looked at in-school adolescents’ oral and hand hygiene activities in Ghana, as well as the factors that influence them. (2) Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that utilised data on 1348 in-school adolescents from the 2012 global school-based health survey. Using Stata software version 14.2, descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. All statistical analyses were considered significant at p-value < 0.05. (3) Results: The prevalence of good hygiene behaviour was 62.6% and 79.9% for good oral hygiene and good hand hygiene, respectively. In-school adolescents who were truant were 31% (AOR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.51–0.92) and 28% (AOR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.54–0.87), respectively, less likely to practise good hand and oral hygiene compared to those who were not. Adolescents whose parents supervised their homework, however, had higher probabilities of practising good hand (AOR = 2.30, 95% CI = 1.64–2.31) and oral (AOR = 2.34, 95% CI = 1.80–3.04) hygiene respectively. Adolescents aged 18 years and above were 1.33 times more likely to practice good oral hygiene than younger adolescents (AOR=1.33, 95% CI = 1.07–1.66). Adolescents who were bullied had lower odds of practicing good hand hygiene (AOR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.52–0.94). (4) Conclusions: While good hygiene behaviour remains a major strategy in decreasing the prevalence of communicable diseases, the less than 65% prevalence of hand hygiene we observed in the current study is indicative of the country’s inability to achieve water, hygiene and sanitation for all by the year 2030. To accelerate progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goal 6.2, there is a need for the implementation of innovative interventions which seek to promote good hygiene behaviours among adolescents and the expansion of existing interventions, such as the WASH initiative, in schools. Such interventions should focus more on younger adolescents, those who are truant, and adolescents who suffer from bullying in school.

Oral Hygiene Behavior among Adolescents in Mongolia: Results from the Global School-based Health Survey 2019

“…Nearly 36% of Mongolian school-aged adolescents had poor oral hygiene seemed almost the same as the previous study [18]. In addition, this result was also higher than Indonesia in 2015 (10.8%) [19], Suriname in 2016 (14.3%), and Trinidad and Tobago in 2017 (22.1%) [20], but lower than Ghana in 2012 (37.4%) [12].…”

“…In six Southeast Asian countries, the results showed that 17.1% had poor oral hygiene (brushing teeth less than twice a day) [7], whereas in Indonesia 10.8% had poor oral hygiene according to the GSHS (Global School-based Health Survey) in 2014-2015 [8]. Poor oral hygiene among adolescents has been associated with being male [9], older age or grade [10], hand hygiene behaviors [11], mental distress including being bullied and lonely [12], smoking and alcohol consumption [13], and health risk behaviors such as inadequate exercise and sedentary leisure time behavior [7].…”

Personal hygiene practice and associated factors among elementary school students in Fiche Town, Oromia, Ethiopia, 2022

“…This could be due to higher LUP, the knowledge of children, and the fact that the residence was only in town. But the result was the same as a similar study done in Mereb-Leke District (61.2%) (11) and 62.6% in Ghana (20). The overall personal hygiene knowledge of students was 278 (52.2%), which was higher than the survey study (32.11%) in Rural Students from Five Western Provinces in China (21).…”

“…However, among primary school students in Fiche town, the good OHP was 55.2%. This practice was small compared with a similar study, 79.9% in Ghana (20) and 70.4% in Manipur, North Eastern India (33); it was the same as 54.5% in Southeast Serbia (34). This difference may be due to family educational status and the small sample size Almost half of the 284 (53.2%) students were brushing their teeth once daily; 147 (27.5%) brushed twice, and 40 (7.5%) brushed three times or more per day.…”