Research Article

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene among Rural Residents in Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia

Table 2

Attitude of respondents on WASH in Tigray region, 2018 (n = 756).

CharacteristicsStrongly agree, N (%)Agree, N (%)Neutral, N (%)Disagree, N (%)Strongly disagree, N (%)

Attitude on access, quality, and use of water
Clean water consumption is important only when one gets sick27 (4)56 (7)20 (3)379 (50)274 (36)
Consumption of safe and enough water can prevent waterborne diseases272 (36)447 (59)21 (3)9 (1)7 (1)
Defecating near water source can cause contamination349 (46)356 (47)29 (4)14 (2)8 (1)
Boiling water before consumption helps to remove disease causing microorganisms376 (50)336 (44)33 (5)9 (1)2 (0)
Water containers must always be clean441 (58)293 (39)17 (2)2 (0)3 (0)

Attitude on sanitation and health promotion
Cattle dung, if not properly managed, causes health problems304 (40)375 (50)27 (4)34 (5)16 (2)
Disposing liquid waste inside the compound does not cause any health problems32 (4)96 (13)28 (4)376 (50)224 (30)
Diarrheal diseases are caused by poor personal hygiene and sanitation329 (44)379 (50)29 (4)9 (1)10 (1)
Diarrheal diseases are transmittable389 (52)294 (39)40 (5)19 (3)14 (2)
Waste can be breeding sites for flies and rodents401 (53)320 (42)17 (2)9 (1)9 (1)

Attitude on latrine access and utilization
The significance of latrine is for privacy only39 (5)104 (14)35 (5)310 (41)268 (35)
Nonutilization of latrine by neighboring households is unrelated to respondents’ family health31 (4)121 (16)85 (11)342 (45)177 (23)
Households have obligation to construct their own latrine410 (54)300 (40)27 (4)8 (1)11 (2)
Latrine is important for nighttime use only35 (5)72 (10)28 (4)375 (50)246 (33)
Latrine structure should include washable slab with super structure and ventilation21 (3)8 (1)22 (3)354 (47)338 (45)

Attitude on hand hygiene
Washing hand after using latrine prevents diarrheal diseases309 (41)393 (52)26 (3)11 (2)17 (2)
Children’s stool is free from disease causing germs47 (6)84 (11)61 (8)358 (47)206 (27)
Washing hands with water alone is enough to sanitize hands28 (4)158 (21)55 (7)363 (48)152 (20)
Washing hands is more important after eating than before eating food26 (3)151 (20)46 (6)302 (40)231 (31)
Hand hygiene and diarrheal diseases are unrelated32 (4)63 (8)56 (7)438 (58)167 (22)

Over all attitudeN (%)
Unfavorable attitude388 (51.5)
Favorable attitude365 (48.5)