Seasonal variation in water use for hygiene in Oromia, Ethiopia, and its implications for trachoma control: An intensive observational study.
If facial hygiene practices vary seasonally this could have important implications for the design of interventions for trachoma control. This observational study was conducted to explore seasonal variation in hygiene behaviours in 9 households with at least one child aged 1-9 years-of-age in the Wes...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-05-01
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| Series: | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010424 |
| _version_ | 1811290276095852544 |
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| author | Katie Greenland Alexandra Czerniewska Meseret Guye Demitu Legesse Asanti Ahmed Mume Oumer Shafi Abdurahman Muluadam Abraham Aga Hirpha Miecha Gemechu Shumi Bejiga Virginia Sarah Matthew Burton Anna Last |
| author_facet | Katie Greenland Alexandra Czerniewska Meseret Guye Demitu Legesse Asanti Ahmed Mume Oumer Shafi Abdurahman Muluadam Abraham Aga Hirpha Miecha Gemechu Shumi Bejiga Virginia Sarah Matthew Burton Anna Last |
| author_sort | Katie Greenland |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | If facial hygiene practices vary seasonally this could have important implications for the design of interventions for trachoma control. This observational study was conducted to explore seasonal variation in hygiene behaviours in 9 households with at least one child aged 1-9 years-of-age in the West Arsi zone in rural Oromia, Ethiopia. Sixty-one household members were observed intensively over two days in the dry season (January), the rainy season (July) and during the harvest period (October) in 2018. Structured record forms were used to document household water availability and use. Daily water use per capita was very low in all seasons (3.1-4.2 litres). Around one third of water consumed in households in all seasons was associated with body washing. Soap was used during 44 of 677 (6%) of these observed occasions and half of all body washes (n = 340; 50%) included face washing. Overall, 95% of 58 individuals washed their faces at least once between 06:30h and 21:30h in the dry season (21% with soap), compared with 79% in the rainy season (2% with soap) (p = 0.013). Sixty-five percent of householders washed their faces during the harvest observation period (06:30h to 17:30h), none of whom used soap. Twenty-eight percent of 204 children aged 11 and under still had ocular or nasal discharge on their faces after washing. Seventy-three percent of those who washed their faces did so more than once in the dry season, compared with 33% in the rainy season (p<0.001). Face washing occurred throughout the day during the dry season, with a clear peak in the early morning and extra washes in the early evening. Face washing mainly took place in the early morning in the other two seasons. Genuine water scarcity in this area is likely to limit the impact of face washing interventions for trachoma control in the absence of water supply interventions. However, face washing was most common at the time of year when water is the hardest to come by, and seasonal differences in behaviour should be considered in any resulting intervention design. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:10:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-981a06669f7849d3bf81f5555e4db52e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1935-2727 1935-2735 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:10:04Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-981a06669f7849d3bf81f5555e4db52e2022-12-22T03:03:08ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352022-05-01165e001042410.1371/journal.pntd.0010424Seasonal variation in water use for hygiene in Oromia, Ethiopia, and its implications for trachoma control: An intensive observational study.Katie GreenlandAlexandra CzerniewskaMeseret GuyeDemitu LegesseAsanti Ahmed MumeOumer Shafi AbdurahmanMuluadam Abraham AgaHirpha MiechaGemechu Shumi BejigaVirginia SarahMatthew BurtonAnna LastIf facial hygiene practices vary seasonally this could have important implications for the design of interventions for trachoma control. This observational study was conducted to explore seasonal variation in hygiene behaviours in 9 households with at least one child aged 1-9 years-of-age in the West Arsi zone in rural Oromia, Ethiopia. Sixty-one household members were observed intensively over two days in the dry season (January), the rainy season (July) and during the harvest period (October) in 2018. Structured record forms were used to document household water availability and use. Daily water use per capita was very low in all seasons (3.1-4.2 litres). Around one third of water consumed in households in all seasons was associated with body washing. Soap was used during 44 of 677 (6%) of these observed occasions and half of all body washes (n = 340; 50%) included face washing. Overall, 95% of 58 individuals washed their faces at least once between 06:30h and 21:30h in the dry season (21% with soap), compared with 79% in the rainy season (2% with soap) (p = 0.013). Sixty-five percent of householders washed their faces during the harvest observation period (06:30h to 17:30h), none of whom used soap. Twenty-eight percent of 204 children aged 11 and under still had ocular or nasal discharge on their faces after washing. Seventy-three percent of those who washed their faces did so more than once in the dry season, compared with 33% in the rainy season (p<0.001). Face washing occurred throughout the day during the dry season, with a clear peak in the early morning and extra washes in the early evening. Face washing mainly took place in the early morning in the other two seasons. Genuine water scarcity in this area is likely to limit the impact of face washing interventions for trachoma control in the absence of water supply interventions. However, face washing was most common at the time of year when water is the hardest to come by, and seasonal differences in behaviour should be considered in any resulting intervention design.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010424 |
| spellingShingle | Katie Greenland Alexandra Czerniewska Meseret Guye Demitu Legesse Asanti Ahmed Mume Oumer Shafi Abdurahman Muluadam Abraham Aga Hirpha Miecha Gemechu Shumi Bejiga Virginia Sarah Matthew Burton Anna Last Seasonal variation in water use for hygiene in Oromia, Ethiopia, and its implications for trachoma control: An intensive observational study. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| title | Seasonal variation in water use for hygiene in Oromia, Ethiopia, and its implications for trachoma control: An intensive observational study. |
| title_full | Seasonal variation in water use for hygiene in Oromia, Ethiopia, and its implications for trachoma control: An intensive observational study. |
| title_fullStr | Seasonal variation in water use for hygiene in Oromia, Ethiopia, and its implications for trachoma control: An intensive observational study. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seasonal variation in water use for hygiene in Oromia, Ethiopia, and its implications for trachoma control: An intensive observational study. |
| title_short | Seasonal variation in water use for hygiene in Oromia, Ethiopia, and its implications for trachoma control: An intensive observational study. |
| title_sort | seasonal variation in water use for hygiene in oromia ethiopia and its implications for trachoma control an intensive observational study |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010424 |
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