| Author: | Leung, Man Wai |
| Title: | Parental knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards personal and household hygiene for prevention of upper respiratory tract infections in children |
| Advisors: | O'Donoghue, Margaret (SN) Suen, Lorna (SN) |
| Degree: | DHSc |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Subject: | Parents -- Health and hygiene Sanitation, Household Respiratory infections -- Prevention Health behavior Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Faculty of Health and Social Sciences |
| Pages: | xiii, 264 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Background Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are one of the most important causes of childhood morbidity and exert a major cost on individuals and society alike. Personal and household hygiene measures are effective in preventing URTIs. Parents can perform and promote good hygiene habits in their households, safeguarding their children from infectious diseases including URTIs. During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) studies on respiratory infectious disease prevention were widely conducted but only a few targeted parents. Little is known about basic hygiene issues including hand hygiene, household environmental disinfection and indoor ventilation. Aims The aims of this study were to understand personal and household hygiene KAP of parents for the prevention of URTI in their children. Factors such as parental demographic characteristics were explored to determine if they influenced KAP. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted. A questionnaire was developed to collect information about parental KAP towards hand hygiene, household environmental disinfection, and indoor ventilation. Demographic details were also collected. Parents having children aged 16 years or below, residing with their children in the same residential building in Hong Kong and being responsible for maintaining household hygiene were eligible to participate in this study. Results Four hundred and fourteen parents in Hong Kong participated in the online survey. The average knowledge score was high (10.2/12.0) but some misconceptions were identified. Only 56.8% of parents always performed hand hygiene before touching their mouth, nose or eyes. Some household items were frequently disinfected (69.8%: door handles, 60.4%: toilet seats, 42.8%: floor, 24.1%: dining room chairs, 20.5%: dining tables). Multiple regression analysis revealed that parents who were healthcare professionals, and with higher household income, had better parental knowledge of hygiene measures. Hygiene attitude was associated with housing type. Parents living in subsidised sale flats showed poorer hygiene attitudes compared with parents living in other housing types. Overall hygiene practices varied significantly with hygiene attitudes, age of the children, and housing type. Parents with young children (aged five years or below) or living in subsidised sale flats performed fewer hygiene practices. Conclusion The results of this study provide the current status of parental hygiene KAP and identify multiple factors influencing parental KAP for URTI prevention amongst children. This information and data analysis can provide parents, governments, researchers and healthcare professionals with a better understanding of parental KAP in preventing development of URTIs in children. Parental hygiene KAP were generally good but misconceptions and improper hygiene practices were identified. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8003.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 4.64 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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