INTRODUCTION:

Hand hygiene is a milestone of infectious disease control, and promotion of improved hand hygiene has been recognized as an important public health measure¹. It has long been recognized to be a convenient, effective, and also cost-effective means of preventing communicable diseases². According to the definition of World Health Organization, hand hygiene is a general term referring to any action of hand cleansing, i.e., it is the act of cleaning one’s hands with or without the use of water or another liquid, or with the use of soap, for the purpose of removing soil, dirt, and/or microorganisms³. A causal link between hand hygiene and rates of infectious disease illness has also been established earlier⁴.

Faecal oral diseases transmission among school children is mainly due to unhygienic hands. There is connection among contaminated hands, and confirmed that common infection such as diarrhea, common cold and child hood fever can be reduced effectively by proper hand washing technique. Numeral studies encompass that contaminated hands can carry various types of disease producing organisms⁵. Effective hand washing technique is supposed to decrease transmission infection by reducing possible microorganisms and also by washing away the dirt, which could also port microorganisms and permit their endurance for longer periods of time. The two major deadly diseases among children are diarrhea and acute respiratory infection which can be effectively reduced by proper hand washing was pointed out by many systemic reviews⁶.

Encouraging children from an early age to wash their hands will help to ensure that this practice becomes a lifelong habit. The transmission of common communication infection such as colds and flu can be prevented by following good hand hygiene. Teaching proper techniques of hand washing to children will not only help to influence their hand washing practice at home but also at school? Many illness starts with poor hand washing. Salmonella, campylobacter, MRSA, flu, diarrhea and sickness, the common cold, impetigo these are just some of the viruses and infections. Common prevailing among school children, because of poor hygiene. Hand washing is a significally effective method to protect the school children from the infectious diseases, because frequent hand washing keeps germs away.

NEED OF THE STUDY:

Hand washing is significantly important in children as children are vulnerable to illness since they are very playful and more exposed to dirt, soil and other source of disease causing infections. By teaching them proper hand washing techniques, school-aged children can keep their own hands clean and also teach other children how to stop the spread of germs¹.

As children lack hand hygiene in schools a potential for disease transmission is at a higher risk. A school health nurse plays an important role in providing hand washing knowledge to school children. School health nurses can provide health promotive measures teaching students, parents and teachers the importance of hand washing thereby facilitating a healthy and safe environment at home and at school which will provide the foundation for a healthy and active childhood and it will also help them to incorporate this knowledge to other children in the school as well as other people in the socity⁷.

In view of the above facts and interest in the topic the researcher felt the need to assess the hand hygiene practice among school children’s who are playing important role in learning and preparing the children as a good citizen. The study further examined hand washing facilities, their availability and accessibility to the school children, and also whether hand washing knowledge and practice are impacted by school.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Guinan Sevareid, (2015) a descriptive study conducted on prevalence of bacteria in the hands of children and their perception on hand washing in two schools of Bangalore and Kolkata. This was assessed by questionnaire as well as by collection of swab from hand and performing bacteriological culture in the laboratory. The study results showed that with regard to students perception about the dirty areas of the hands, it was observed that majority (78%) felt palm was likely to be dirtier while less than 70% felt that web spaces could harbor dirt. Almost 86% reported that they washed hands before eating lunch, but only 21.3% said they always used soap while 47.3% never used it. Availability of soap all the time in the school was reported by only 18.4% students. The swabs of 61% children showed potential pathogens. The commonest of these was Staphylococcus aureus which was seen in 44% samples⁸.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in two schools of Bangalore and Kolkata to find out the extent of germs present in hand, and also the students' perception on hand washing. The study results showed that with regard to students perception about the dirty areas of the hands, it was observed that majority (78%) felt palm was likely to be more dirty while less than 70% felt that web spaces could harbor dirt. Almost 86% reported that they washed hands before eating lunch, but only 21.3% said they always used soap while 47.3% never used it. Availability of soap all the time in the school was reported by only 18.4% students. The swabs of 61% children showed potential pathogens. The commonest of these was Staphylococcus aureus which was seen in 44% samples. The study concluded that the student’s hands were contaminated before taking food. Although they washed hands before meals, they hardly used soap due to non-availability of soap and recommended that the school authority should be asked to keep soaps in the toilets for hand washing⁹.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The Non- experimental research approach was adopted in the present study to assess the practice level of hand hygiene among school children. The research design selected for the study was descriptive research design. The target population was the schoolchildren of age group 9-12yrs and purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample.

DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS:

Part A:

This includes socio demographic data of the subjects. The demographic variables consisted of 5 items which included age of the children, gender, educational status, religion and type of family.

Part B:

This section consisted of observation checklist to assess the practice of hand washing. The 30 items were included in the check list, based on the hand hygiene practice.

Criterion Measure for level of Knowledge:

Sr. No.	Level of Knowledge	Score
1.	Good	(21-30)
2.	Average	(11-20)
3.	Low	(0-10)

Maximum score =30

Minimum score =0

RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION:

Part A:

Table 1: Description of school students by Age

S. No.	Age of the school students under study	Frequency	Percentage (%)	Chi-square test (x²)
1	9-10 years	7	7%	0.02 (significant)
2	10-11 years	25	25%
3	11-12 years	68	68%
	Total	100	100%

Table 1: Depicts according to Age, the majority of students belonged to age group 11-12 years and minority of students belonged to age group 9-10 years. The calculated value of chi test is more than table value, hence it is concluded that the association between the age group and practice of students regarding hand hygiene practice was significant.

Table 2: Description of school students by Gender

S. No	Gender	Frequency	Percentage (%)	Chi-square test (x²)
1	Male	48	48%	0 (signifant) Df=1
2	Female	52	52%
	Total	100	100%

Table 2: Depicts according to Gender, females (52%) are in majority group and males (48%) are in minority group. The calculated value of chi test is more than table value, hence it is concluded that the association between the gender group and practice of students regarding hand hygiene practice was significant.

Table 3: Description of school students by educational status

S. No.	Education status	Frequency	Percentage (%)	Chi-square test (x²)
1	4^th Class	6	6%	16.2 Df=2 (non-significant)
2	5^th Class	65	65%
3	6^th Class	29	29%
	Total	100	100%

Table 3: Depicts according to educational status, 5^th class (65%) is in majority group whereas 4^th class (6%) is in minority group. The calculated value of chi test is less than table value, hence it is concluded that the association between the educational status and practice of students regarding hand hygiene practice was not significant.

Table 4: Description of school students by Religion

S. No	Religion	Frequency	Percentage (%)	Chi-square test (x²)
1	Hindu	79	79%	0 Df=3 (significant)
2	Muslim	13	13%
3	Sikh	8	3%
4	Christian	0	0
	Total	100	100%

Table 4: Depicts according to Religion, Hindu (79%) are in majority group. The calculated value of chi test is more than table value, hence it is concluded that the association between the religion group and practice of students regarding hand hygiene practice was significant.

Table 5: Description of school students by Family type

S. No.	Family	Frequency	Percentage (%)	Chi-square test (x²)
1	Nuclear	66	66%	0 Df=2 (significant)
2	Joint	33	33%
3	Extended	1	1%
	Total	100	100%

Table 5: Depicts according to type of family, Nuclear (66%) are in majority group and extended family (1%) are in minority group. The calculated value of chi test is more than table value, hence it is concluded that the association between the family group and practice of students regarding hand hygiene practice was significant.

Part B:

Table 6: Distribution of school students under study according to hand hygiene practice.

S. No.	Scoring	Frequency	Percentage (%)	Level of practice
1	(0-10)	0	0%	LOW
2	(11-20)	39	39%	AVERAGE
3	(21-30)	61	61%	GOOD

CONCLUSION:

The findings of the results revealed in the study group students scoring between 21-30 had good hand hygiene practice which leads to 61% of the sample whereas student scoring 11-20 had average hand hygiene practice which leads to 39% and student scoring 0-10 had poor hand hygiene practice.

REFERENCES:

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Received on 28.05.2020 Modified on 02.07.2020

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2020; 8(4):509-511.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2660.2020.00113.1