TITLE:
Handwashing Habits before Pandemic COVID-19 in the Chitwan District of Nepal and Implication for COVID-19 Control
AUTHORS:
Najim Sekh, Rukma Shekh, Krishna Kaphle, Irshad Alam Ansari
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19, Toilet, Coughing, Handwash Session, Handwash Frequency
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.11,
October
25,
2022
ABSTRACT: The objective of this
research was to assess handwashing habits nearly 5 years ago among residents of
the Chitwan district of Nepal which might be useful at present to tackle
COVID-19 emerging cases. The study had employed descriptive cross-sectional
design in Ratnanagar and Kalika municipality. Using simple random lottery method, 40 people each from Tandi and Shaktikhor
settlements were chosen. Well-structured questionnaire survey was employed to get
data from people, and later analyzed by Chi-Square (χ2) test. The
research had revealed that majority of population were using the soap-water for
handwash. Interestingly, a higher number of people were washing hands after toiler
visit than before having meals. It was a key finding that handwashing habit should be improved by people after coughing and
sneezing as only 12.5% and 5% people living at Tandi and Shaktikhor settlement
respectively were washing hands after coughing and sneezing (p make people aware on hand hygiene parameters like total
time investment per session, and handwashing
frequency per day may be advantageous to tackle the COVID-19 growing
cases in Nepal.