ABSTRACT
This cross-sectional study done in 2014 explored the hand-washing practice and its relation with the occurrence of acute diarrhoea and acute respiratory tract infection (ARI) among grades 9 and 10 students from No.1 Basic Education High School, North Okkalapa Township, Yangon Region. Altogether 380 students were selected: inclusive of 190 students from ninth grade and the same number of students from tenth grade by using multistage sampling procedure. Anonymous self-administered questionnaires were used in data collection. Results indicated that only 19.7% (95% CI = 15.9%, 24.1%) of students reported proper handwashing practices. The occurrence of acute diarrhoea and ARI among students within last three months were reported as 40.8% (95% CI = 35.9%, 45.8%) and 98.2% (95% CI = 96.2%, 99.2%), respectively. There were statistically significant associations between age (p = 0.002), gender (p =0.002), grade (p = 0.001), socio-economic status (p = 0.05) and practice of hand-washing. Moreover,proper hand-washing practice significantly influenced the occurrence of acute diarrhoea (p =0.001) and occurrence of ARI (p = 0.004) among students. Therefore, the enabling environment for hand-washing should be created for children at school as well as in their home settings. This may lead the children to adopt and sustain proper hand washing-practice in regular manner.