Hand hygiene practices among primary and secondary school students in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review
The purpose of this study was to comprehensively appraise and synthesize studies on hand hygiene practices among primary and secondary school students in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This is a thorough review of scientific papers published between 2015 and 2023 from primary databases such as the Web of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IWA Publishing
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://washdev.iwaponline.com/content/13/12/1018 |
| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to comprehensively appraise and synthesize studies on hand hygiene practices among primary and secondary school students in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This is a thorough review of scientific papers published between 2015 and 2023 from primary databases such as the Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar. The review criteria were met by 26 out of 63 studies assessed for legibility. The review demonstrated that students in SSA had moderate and good hand washing practices in terms of regular hand washing, cleaning hands after defecation, and before and after eating. Furthermore, the review pinpoints hand washing practices as influenced by factors such as knowledge, hand washing facilities and materials, influences from parents and teachers or others, personal and social factors, media, gender, age, and other factors such as location, attitudes, and school modernity. Furthermore, the reviewed studies highlighted recommendations for improving hand hygiene practices, such as enhancing hand hygiene and environmental health education, mobilizing resources for hand washing, creating and implementing health policy, and conducting further studies. This review provides data for policymakers on how to improve student hand hygiene and adds to existing knowledge on hand hygiene practices.
HIGHLIGHTS
This study presents evidence from the existing literature on school students’ hand hygiene practices in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).;
The review covered papers published in SSA from 2015 to 2023.;
The hand hygiene practices of students were shown to be moderate and good.;
The hand hygiene practices are subject to several factors including knowledge.;
The findings encourage further efforts to promote hand hygiene at the school and home levels.; |
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| ISSN: | 2043-9083 2408-9362 |