Department of Environmental and Social Science Research, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Urberlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dubendorf, Switzerland.
Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Mar 14;16(6):920. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16060920.
Open defecation is still a major health problem in developing countries. While enormous empirical research exists on latrine coverage, little is known about households' latrine construction and usage behaviours. Using field observation and survey data collected from 1523 households in 132 communities in northern Ghana after 16 months of implementation of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), this paper assessed the factors associated with latrine completion and latrine use. The survey tool was structured to conform to the Risk, Attitude, Norms, Ability and Self-regulation (RANAS) model. In the analysis, we classified households into three based on their latrine completion level, and conducted descriptive statistics for statistical correlation in level of latrine construction and latrine use behaviour. The findings suggest that open defecation among households reduces as latrine construction approaches completion. Although the study did not find socio-demographic differences of household to be significantly associated with level of latrine completion, we found that social context is a significant determinant of households' latrine completion decisions. The study therefore emphasises the need for continuous sensitisation and social marketing to ensure latrine completion by households at lower levels of construction, and the sustained use of latrines by households.
在发展中国家，露天排便仍然是一个主要的健康问题。虽然已经有大量关于厕所覆盖范围的实证研究，但对于家庭厕所建设和使用行为却知之甚少。本文利用在加纳北部 132 个社区的 1523 户家庭在实施社区主导的全面卫生（CLTS）16 个月后收集的实地观察和调查数据，评估了与厕所完工和厕所使用相关的因素。调查工具的结构符合风险、态度、规范、能力和自我调节（RANAS）模型。在分析中，我们根据家庭的厕所完工水平将其分为三类，并对厕所建设和厕所使用行为水平进行了描述性统计，以进行统计相关性分析。研究结果表明，随着厕所建设的接近完成，家庭中的露天排便现象会减少。尽管研究没有发现家庭的社会人口统计学差异与厕所完工水平显著相关，但我们发现社会背景是家庭厕所完工决策的重要决定因素。因此，该研究强调需要持续进行宣传和社会营销，以确保较低建设水平的家庭完成厕所建设，并确保家庭持续使用厕所。
