A STUDY TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HAND HYGIENE PRACTICE IN PREVENTION OF DIARRHOEAL INFECTION AMONG HIGHER PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN SELECTED SCHOOL AT TUMKUR

Background of the study: Diarrhoeal infection is a major public health problem among school children and contributes to absenteeism, poor academic performance, malnutrition, and dehydration. Proper hand hygiene is a simple and effective measure to prevent diarrhoeal infections. This study assessed the effectiveness of hand hygiene practice in preventing diarrhoeal infection among higher primary school children in selected schools at Tumkur. Objectives: 1. to assess the diarrheal risk among higher primary school children in experimental and control group. 2. To assess the practice of hand hygiene among higher primary school children in experimental group. 3. To evaluate the effectiveness of hand hygiene practice in prevention of diarrheal infections among higher primary school children in experimental group. 4. To find the association with pretest diarrheal risk among higher primary school children with their selected socio demographic variables. Methods: A quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test control group design was adopted. Sixty higher primary school children were selected, with 30 participants each in the experimental and control groups. Data were collected using a socio-demographic proform a, hand hygiene practice checklist, and diarrhoeal risk assessment checklist. The experimental group received hand hygiene education and demonstration, while the control group received no intervention. Results: Before intervention, 66.7% of children in the experimental group had high diarrhoeal risk. Following hand hygiene education, 76.7% shifted to the low-risk category and no child remained at high risk. Hand hygiene practices also improved considerably, with 86.7% demonstrating good practice in the post-test compared to none in the pre-test. The mean diarrhoeal risk score decreased from17.03 to 9.50 in the experimental group, whereas only a slight reduction was observed in the control group (16.03 to 15.27). Statistical analysis showed a significant reduction in diarrhoeal risk in the experimental group (t = 11.955, p < 0.05). Significant associations were found between diarrhoeal risk, age, and class of study. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that hand hygiene education and practice significantly reduced diarrhoeal risk and improved hand hygiene behaviour among higher primary school children. Regular school-based hand hygiene programmes can play an important role in preventing diarrhoeal infections and promoting child health.