Hand-Washing at Critical Times and Associated Factors Among Mothers/Caregivers of Under-Five Year Children in Nefas Silk Lafto Sub-City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Hand washing is the simplest, most affordable, and most effective means of limiting the spread of infections. Despite increasing efforts to improve hand washing at critical times (after defecation, after handling child/adult feces or cleaning child's bottom, after cleaning the environment, before preparing food, and before eating food), mothers/caregivers of under-five children fail to conduct it; but the reason appears unclear. Thus, this study sought to identify hand washing at critical times and associated factors among mothers/caregivers of under-five children in Nefas Silk Lafto Sub-City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. METHODS: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted on April 1-15, 2019, and 312 mothers/caregivers participated. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect data from participants by interviewer-administered technique and the data were analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Science version 20. The factors were determined by conducting logistic regression and the crude odds ratio (COR) and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with their respective 95% confidence intervals. All statistical tests were conducted at a 5% level of significance. RESULTS: The study revealed that 232 (74.4%; 95% CI [69.6%-79.2%]) mothers/caregivers washed their hands at critical times. The illiterate mothers/caregivers and mothers/caregivers who lacked tap water inside the home or the backyard had 66% (AOR = 0.34; 95%CI [0.17-0.69]) and 62% (AOR = 0.38; 95%CI [0.18-0.80]) reduced odds of washing hands at critical times, respectively. Mothers/caregivers from middle had (AOR = 4.56; 95%CI [1.84-11.33]), richer had (AOR = 5.61; 95%CI [2.11-15.30]), and the richest had (AOR = 6.14; 95%CI [2.24-16.72]) times increased likelihood of washing hands at critical times than the poorest. CONCLUSION: The majority of mothers/caregivers practiced hand washing at critical times, and improving maternal literacy, household economy, and availability of water sources in the backyard are needed to maintain and enhance the practice.