Department of Economics and Business Administration, University of Education, Lahore (Faisalabad Campus), Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Punjab Economic Research Institute (PERI), Lahore, Pakistan.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Apr;28(15):19179-19185. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-11919-1. Epub 2021 Jan 4.
With the growing awareness of the linkage among open defecation (OD), environment, and health, it is important to understand the factors responsible for OD. It is a necessary step toward developing a strategy to end open defecation for ensuring a better environment and human health. There is no such study available for Pakistan. The study, therefore, aims to bridge this gap. Using household data of Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2017-2018, an association of OD with potential predictors, analysis of variance, and a logistic regression model are employed to develop the evidence. The results suggest that place of residence, education, poverty status, social norms, geopolitical regions, and living space significantly predict the OD behavior in Pakistan. This study recommends two things: first is to facilitate the households and communities to own latrines, second is to change the behavior through intervention. However, political commitment and effective administration will be key to ascertain ending OD.
随着人们越来越意识到随地排便（OD）、环境和健康之间的联系，了解导致 OD 的因素很重要。这是制定结束露天排便策略以确保更好的环境和人类健康的必要步骤。巴基斯坦没有这样的研究。因此，这项研究旨在填补这一空白。本研究使用 2017-2018 年巴基斯坦人口与健康调查（PDHS）的家庭数据，采用方差分析和逻辑回归模型来分析 OD 与潜在预测因素的关系，以提供证据。结果表明，居住地点、教育、贫困状况、社会规范、地缘政治区域和生活空间是显著预测巴基斯坦 OD 行为的因素。本研究提出了两点建议：一是为家庭和社区提供便利，让他们拥有厕所；二是通过干预改变行为。然而，政治承诺和有效的行政管理是确保结束 OD 的关键。
