BACKGROUND:

Failure to perform appropriate hand hygiene practices is a leading cause of infections. WHO recognizes that washing hands with soap can prevent infection and is the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent transmission.¹

Communicable diseases continue to be the major contributor to global morbidity and mortality. According to WHO, 3.8 million children aged less than five die each year from diarrhea and acute respiratory tract infections. An estimated 88% of diarrheal deaths worldwide are attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. Clean water and hand-washing are viewed as cost effective intervention for preventing diarrheal diseases.²

OBJECTIVE:

1. To assess the level of knowledge regarding hand hygiene among primary school children in selected rural community in Dehradun.

2. To find out association between levels of knowledge regarding hand hygiene among primary school in selected rural community with selected demographic variable.

3. To provide a poster regarding steps of hand hygiene.

HYPOTHESIS:

H1 There will be a significant level of knowledge regarding hand hygiene among primary school children.

H2 There will be a significant association between level of knowledge regarding hand hygiene and selected demographic variables.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

RESEARCH APPROACH

Quantitative approach

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RESEARCH DESIGN

Non experimental descriptive design

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SETTING OF THE STUDY

Primary school children ofKotdaSantaur

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TARGET POPULATION

Student of class 3^rd, 4th and 5^th

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SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

Convenience sampling

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SAMPLE SIZE

30 students

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Interview schedule

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To give a poster regarding steps of hand hygiene

RESEARCH TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES:

The aim of study was to assess the knowledge regarding hand hygiene among primary school children.

The tools consist of two parts:

Section I: Demographic data

Section II: Structured Interview Schedule

Section I- Demographic Data:

This part consists of -: Age, Gender, Class, Occupation of parents, Order of birth, Number of siblings.

Section II- Structured Interview Schedule:

This part consists of questionnaire for assessing the knowledge regarding hand hygiene among primary school children. It consists of 25 items i.e. Dichotomous questions. Each question consists of one correct answer among the two choices. Each correct answer carried one marks.

CRITERION MEASURES:

It is used in the study was as follows-

There were 30 questions to assess the knowledge regarding hand hygiene among primary school children. Each correct answer carried one mark and incorrect answer carried zero mark.

Total items = 25

Maximum score = 25

Minimum score = 0

The scores were categorized into three level of knowledge.

Level of knowledge	Score
Good	18-25
Average	10-17
Below average	0-9

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE:

The data collection for the study was done in the month of December 2017. The investigators prior to commencing the task of data collection obtained formal permission from, the respective Principal of govt. primary school. The investigators took consent from the class coordinator and explained the purpose of collecting the data. Students and their coordinators were assured that confidentiality will be maintained under all the circumstances. Investigators had spent approximately 10-15 minutes with each subject.

Table-1- Mean and standard deviation of level of knowledge regarding hand hygiene among primary school children

Level of Knowledge	N	Mean	Standard Deviation
Level of Knowledge	30	21.2000	3.02176

Table- 2-Frequency and percentage distribution of knowledge regarding hand hygiene among primary school children.

Level of knowledge	Score	Frequency	Percentage
Good	18-25	28	93.33
Average	10-17	2	6.67
Below Average	0-9	0	0

RESULT:

The finding of study revealed that among 30 primary school children 28(93.33%) had good knowledge, 2 (6.67%) had average knowledge and none had below average knowledge regarding hand hygiene.

CONCLUSION:

The study findings revealed that primary school children had good knowledge regarding hand hygiene. The demographic variables were found to be having non-significant association with knowledge regarding hand hygiene.

RECOMMENDATION:

Based on the study following recommendation were made :

1. The study can be replicated on a large sample to validate and generalize its finding.

2. Similar study can be conducted in a different setting like state level and national level.

A comparative study can be conducted to assess the knowledge regarding hand hygiene among primary school children with selected demographic variable.

REFERENCES:

1. Kalpna Bhatia. A Study to Assess the Hand Hygiene practice among school children. Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2020; 8(4):509-511.

2. Harpreet Kaur, Jasbir Kaur. Hand Hygiene Practices among Staff Nurses during Drug Administration at Selected Tertiary Health Care Centre of Ludhiana, Punjab. Asian J. Nur. Edu. and Research 5(2): April-June 2015; Page199-201.

3. K. Maheswari. Assess the Knowledge of Mother Regarding Oral Problems among Primary School Children. Asian J. Nur. Edu. and Research 5(4): Oct.- Dec.2015; Page 499-500.

4. Kavitha. T. A Study to assess the Knowledge regarding Hand Hygiene among Staff Nurse in Wockhardt Hospital Rajkot, Gujarat State. Asian J. Nursing Education and Research. 2018; 8(3):333-334.

5. D. Wilfred Shiju. Intelligent Hand Hygiene Recording and Reminding Method to Check Hospital Acquired Infections. Research J. Pharm. and Tech 2017; 10(10): 3511-3513.

6. Swarajyam Y. A Study to Assess the Knowledge and Practices of Mothers Regarding Worm Infestation among School age Children (6-12 Years) in Order to Develop Health Education Pamphlet in a Selected Rural Community, Bangalore. Asian J. Nur. Edu. & Research 1(1): Jan.-March 2011; Page 28-30.

7. Sumana Yesu Priya S. H. A study to correlate the Feeding Practice of mother with Nutritional Status of their children at selected Rural Community, Kolar with a view to develop Information Booklet. Asian J. Nursing Education and Research. 2018; 8(3):423-433.

8. S. Mithra, Pratibha Ramani, Herald J. Sherlin, Gheena. S, AbilashaRamasubramaniam, GifrinaJayaraj, K. R. Don, Archana Santhanam. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Hand Hygiene among Medical Students/ Practitioners – A Survey. Research J. Science and Tech. 2019; 11(4):259-264.

9. IndhuRockey. A Study to Assess the Knowledge on Habitual problems of School Age Children among their Mothers in A Selected Rural Community at Bangalore with A View to Develop an Information Booklet on Mangement of Habitual Problems of School Age Children. International Journal of Nursing Education and Research. 2022; 10(2):153-6.

10. Hardeep Kaur. An Exploratory Study to Assess Cultural Child Rearing practices among women in a Selected Rural Community, Ludhiana, Punjab. Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2017; 5(3): 315-319.

Received on 14.10.2022 Modified on 30.12.2022

Int. J. of Advances in Nur. Management. 2023; 11(2):107-109.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2652.2023.00025