Health and hygiene knowledge, attitudes and behaviour

The aim of this study was to develop and test measures of health and hygien e knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. A questionnaire was administered to 2 40 women: XO from a squatter camp, 80 from an informal settlement and 80 fr om a formal township. Reliability of the knowledge scale was 0.73. Coeffici ent alpha was 0.87 for the attitude and behaviour scales. The knowledge, at titude and behaviour scales were significantly related (P < 0.001). Factor analysis confirmed that domestic and personal hygiene were core components of the attitude scale, whereas the emphasis for behaviour was on personal h ygiene. Stepwise regression showed that age explained 23% of the variance i n knowledge and 18% in behaviour. Waste management significantly affected k nowledge, attitudes and behaviour, suggesting that dustbin ownership was an important public health measure. It was concluded that these scales were u seful measures of health and hygiene knowledge, attitudes and behaviour; pr ovided baseline information for planning health promotion programmes; and c ould be used to evaluate the effectiveness of such programmes. (C) 2000 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.