Personal Hygiene and Sanitary Practices among the School Girls in Dhangadhi, Sudurpashchim Province, Nepal
Saraswati Kumari Joshi
Kailali Multiple Campus, Campus Road, Dhangadhi, Kailali, Nepal.
Nisha Adhikari
College of Pharmacy, Gachon University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
Sita Kumari Joshi
Kailali Multiple Campus, Campus Road, Dhangadhi, Kailali, Nepal.
Durga Kumari Joshi
Kailali Multiple Campus, Campus Road, Dhangadhi, Kailali, Nepal.
Shristi Joshi
School of Engineering, Pokhara University, Kaski, Nepal.
Kalpana Chaudhary
Kailali Multiple Campus, Campus Road, Dhangadhi, Kailali, Nepal.
Tulsi Joshi
Kailali Multiple Campus, Campus Road, Dhangadhi, Kailali, Nepal.
Ravin Bhandari
Department of Pharmacy, Crimson College of Technology, Pokhara University, Nepal.
Dirgha Raj Joshi
*
College of Pharmacy, Yonsei University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The inadequate knowledge of personal hygiene and sanitation is directly correlated with the health of an individual, a family, a community, a nation, and the globe as a whole. To know the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of personal hygiene and sanitation among the girl students in Dhangadhi, Nepal; this study was conducted in four different schools and a total of 238 girl students were selected specifically from the grade 5 to 10 following their age range from 11 to 18 years and the data was collected by filling the questionnaires. The average age of menarche is 12-13 years, mother is the major source of information about menstruation (53.8%) followed by sisters (35.3%). Only 20% use commercial sanitary pads and the majority of them use both, i.e. commercial pad as well as old clothes (65.5%), majority of the participants change absorbent 3 times a day (53.6%). 99.2% have their own toilets, 100% use soap water to clean hands, only 64.7% do brushing once a day, 14.3% have oral diseases and 67.6% do not know about oral diseases while 92% have never visited the dentist. Only 16.8% bath every day, 96.2% use nail cutter, 53.8% of the participants cut nail once a week followed by 42% occasionally. Only 21.4% have access to safe drinking water and 78.6% are relying on hand-pump water. Overall, the knowledge about personal hygiene and sanitation is average, but the attitude and practice towards it need to be improved.
Keywords: Personal hygiene, sanitation, menstruation, hand washing practices, brushing teeth, waste management