Nancy Sebastian, Mujibur Rahman Kamal Batcha, Sathish Kumar Selvaraju, Murugesan Kasinathan, Udhayakumar Uthirapathy
Department of Community Medicine, Vinayaka Mission's Medical College and Hospital, Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation - Deemed to be University (VMRF-DU), Karaikal, Puducherry, India.
Bioinformation. 2024 May 31;20(5):502-507. doi: 10.6026/973206300200502. eCollection 2024.
The levels of latrine utilization were lower than the levels of latrine ownership in rural areas owing to certain psycho-social barriers hindering latrine construction and consistent utilization. The study was aimed to identify the proportion of latrine construction and usage and to explore the psychological, socio-cultural and structural factors influencing latrine ownership and utilization. A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out at the four villages of Villupuram district for three months. After IEC clearance, information was collected from a representative sample of 422 households. Direct observation of the latrines was employed along with surveys. The data were entered and analysed in MS Excel. Categorical variables were expressed as frequencies and percentages. Further, the reasons were categorized into psychological, socio-cultural and structural factors. About 54.7% households owned a latrine and among them 46.8% were using it. Psycho-social factors such as convenience, habitual nature, privacy and space constraints in open defecation influenced latrine ownership. Fear of snakes and insects, safety and protection, time saving and proper functioning latrines with availability of water facilitated latrine utilization are of concern. A multi-faceted strategy employing context-specific behaviour change communication along with Government's financial support would improve both latrine construction and utilization.
由于某些社会心理障碍阻碍了农村地区厕所的建设和持续使用，农村地区的厕所使用率低于厕所拥有率。该研究旨在确定厕所建设和使用的比例，并探讨影响厕所拥有和使用的心理、社会文化及结构因素。在维鲁布尔姆区的四个村庄开展了为期三个月的基于社区的横断面研究。在获得信息、教育和宣传（IEC）许可后，从422户具有代表性的家庭中收集了信息。除了进行调查外，还对厕所进行了直接观察。数据录入微软Excel并进行分析。分类变量以频率和百分比表示。此外，将原因分为心理、社会文化和结构因素。约54.7%的家庭拥有厕所，其中46.8%正在使用。诸如便利性、习惯、隐私以及露天排便的空间限制等社会心理因素影响了厕所拥有情况。对蛇和昆虫的恐惧、安全保障、节省时间以及有水源供应且功能正常的厕所对促进厕所使用至关重要。采用因地制宜的行为改变宣传以及政府财政支持的多方面策略将改善厕所建设和使用情况。
