Hand Washing: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice amongst Mothers of Under-Five Children in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria

The hands are central to many of our daily activities and the use of contaminated hands for cooking and eating enhances transmission of contaminants/germs into the body through food, thereby causing ill-health. Mothers serve the dual role of the children’s nurse (handling their faeces, blowing their nostrils, etc.) as well as the household chef (prepares family’s meals, feeds children). This coupled with poor knowledge and practice of simple hygiene increase the risk of spread of diseases to the under-five children. A community based cross-sectional study set out to determine the knowledge, attitude towards and practice of hand washing among mothers of under-five children in Igbona Area of Olorunda Local Government in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. Three hundred mothers of under-five children were selected for the study using a multi-stage technique. Interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect information on participants’ knowledge, attitude towards and practice of hand washing. Overall, respondents had good knowledge of hand washing but their educational status and religion were found to influence degree of knowledge of hand washing (p = 0.01 respectively with higher education and Christianity positively impacting knowledge of hand washing). More than three-quarters (81.6%) of them did not think that the use of soap was important in hand washing. Respondents’ practice of hand washing was influenced by their age and educational level (p < 0.0000001) respectively with older age group and higher educational levels corresponding to better practice. In conclusion, the study found good knowledge of hand washing among the respondents with many of them showing positive attitude in favor of hand rinsing. Those with higher education had better practice of hand washing. To realize the health benefits of hand washing, efforts to improve hand washing in this environment should encourage adding soap to current hand rinsing practices. Keywords: hand washing, mothers, under-five children, knowledge, attitude, practice

Awareness and knowledge of the sustainable development goals in a University Community in Southwestern Nigeria

Background: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a globally  accepted developmental agenda, and it is expected that everyone everywhere in the world would be aware, knowledgeable and be willing to contribute to its  attainment. This study aims to assess the level of awareness, knowledge of, and attitudes towards the SDGs among members of a university community. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 450 students and staff of Osun State University, Southwestern Nigeria, selected from three of its six  multi-campuses via multi-stage sampling. Data were collected by means of  semi-structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: The mean age for the respondents was 26(10.2) years. Only 43% of the respondents were aware of the SDGs and only 4.2% had good knowledge of the SDGs. However, 56.3% had positive attitude towards it. More respondents with good knowledge of the SDGs were either acadenic staff or those have been  enlightened via personal study of the SDGs or through other means. Similarly having a positive attitude was associated with being an academic staff/ high level of education as well as belonging to the middle age group. (p<0.05). Conclusion: The awareness of and attitudes towards the SDGs was just fair. However, the level of knowledge was abysmally low, and this has serious  negative implications for SDGs attainment. Pertinent individual and  population-level methods of enlightening people about the SDGs must be put in place in educational settings; curricular changes are imperative. Keywords: Attitudes, Awareness, Knowledge, MDGs, SDGs, University

Perceptions and Use of Antimicrobials Among Staff of a University Community in Southwestern Nigeria

Public attitude and knowledge of antibiotics are determinants of rational use of antibiotics and prevention of antimicrobial drug resistance. This study assessed perception and use of antimicrobials among staff members of a University in Southwestern Nigeria. Descriptive cross-sectional study among 450 staff members of Osun State University in Southwestern Nigeria using multistage sampling method was carried out. Semi-structured self-administered and pre-tested questionnaires were used in data collection. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software Version 17.0. Binary logistic regression models for the outcome variable of composite knowledge and attitude scores toward antimicrobials and their possible predictors were done and level of significance was set at p values ≤ .05 and confidence interval of 95% for all inferential analyses. Mean age of respondents was 26.8 (±11.1) years, and 331 (73.6%) had up to tertiary-level education. One hundred eighty-three (40.7%) and 267 (59.3%) had good and poor knowledge scores, respectively; 175 (38.9%) had positive attitude whereas 275 (61.1%) had negative attitude toward the use of antibiotics. About 279 (62.0%) were informed about judicious use of antibiotics, 398 (88.4%) had ever used antibiotics in the past 1 year with the Ampicillin and Cloxacillin combinations being the most commonly used. Eighty-eight (22.1%) used antibiotics for more than 10 days as at the last use. Predictors for having good knowledge and attitude include age, educational status, and ever having used antibiotics. Inadequate knowledge and attitude toward antibiotics were observed, and this necessitates sustained health education campaign to stakeholders on rational use of antibiotics, especially toward prevention of antimicrobial resistance