OBSERVATIONS ON HANDWASHING PRACTICES OF MOTHERS AND ENVIRONMENTAL-CONDITIONS IN ONA-ARA LOCAL-GOVERNMENT AREA OF OYO-STATE, NIGERIA

During baseline survey before developing an educational intervention p rogramme for modifying behaviours toward improved home management of d iarrhoea, handwashing practices and environmental conditions of 549 mo thers and health care-providers of 638 children aged less than 5 years in Ona-Ara Local Government Area (LGA) were observed, The aims of the study were to describe the patterns of maternal handwashing behaviour in relation to disposal of faeces and feeding of children, and to des cribe environmental conditions of the households, Handwashing behaviou rs after cleaning a child who has just defecated and after disposal of faeces were observed in 29.3% episodes, while handwashing before feed ing the child occurred in 12.4% of observations, Handwashing in relati on to these events occurred more frequently in periurban than in rural villages (p<0.001), These differences may be due to higher education of the periurban women compared to their rural counterparts, Handwashi ng was apparently not associated with distance from the water source o r with the age groups of the children, Environmental observation revea led the presence of uncovered food (13%), human faeces (17%), animal d ung (71%), animals (82%), and unprotected pit latrines (11%) in and ar ound the house, There were significant rural-periurban differences in environmental conditions of the rural and periurban areas, It is recom mended that the characteristics of areas selected for intervention be considered and important sub-group differences be identified before pl anning and implementing of such interventions.