Practices and knowledge about environmental sanitation and hygiene among urban dwellers in Gomoa East District, Ghana

Abstract

This study assessed the practices and knowledge about environmental sanitation and hygiene among urban dwellers in Gomoa East District in the Central Region of Ghana. A cross sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. Random sampling technique was used in selecting 360 inhabitants in three urban communities. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The study showed that a significant number of respondents (80.8%) had high knowledge about environmental sanitation and hygiene than respondents (2.5 %) with low knowledge. Respondents who had good standard practices regarding environmental sanitation and hygiene were 43 % greater than respondents with poor standard practices. Chi-square test results showed that no association exist between sex and knowledge = 2.32, p = 0.31) and age and knowledge = 2.03, p = 0.36). However, there was significant association between occupation and knowledge ( = 42.10, p=0.00). A Pearson product-moment correlation result showed that there was no relationship between standard practices and knowledge about environmental sanitation and hygiene (r = 0.058, p = 0.274). Major findings of the study leads to a conclusion that even though inhabitants knowledge about environmental sanitation and hygiene was high there was a clear gap between knowledge and actual practices hence the District Environmental Health and sanitation Department in collaboration with Environmental Protection Agency should implement effective behavioral change communication strategy among the urban dwellers to translate knowledge into actual practice.