KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF HANDWASHING AS A MEASURE OF DISEASE CONTROL AMONG STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, ONDO

ABSTRACT Handwashing is an effective measure to bring control on transmission of various communicable diseases. The simple action of handwashing can reduce the rate of mortality from these deadly diseases by almost 50 percent. The study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of handwashing as a measure of disease control among students of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 277students selected by a simple random sampling technique at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo State. A well-structured questionnaire was used to evaluate the knowledge and practice of handwashing among the students. Data were manually collected and analyzed electronically with the use of SPSS computer software version 23. The result revealed that the majority of the respondents (65.3%) were within the age range 16-20 years, with (55.2%) of them being females. Most of the students practiced Christianity (68.6%). Majority of the students 166 (59.9%) have good knowledge of handwashing. Good practice of handwashing was seen among most of the students 158 (57.0%) compared to others that had a poor practice of handwashing 119 (43.0%). The presence of handwashing stations in the school is seen as the most influential factor in handwashing by the students 240 (86.6%), followed by the cleanliness of the handwashing station 205 (74.0%), then shortage of hand sanitizer is also listed among the major factors affecting handwashing practice among the students in the school, shortage running water 195 (70.4%). There is no statistically significant association between the respondent’s knowledge and their practice of handwashing (P- value 0.150 > 0.05, X2 =1.347). We suggest that there should be regular hygiene education, training, maintenance, and better coordination among stakeholders to create a healthy school environment and to limit the transmission and prevalence of infections. Keywords: Handwashing, Knowledge, Practice, Students, UNIMED. Word count: 290 words