title: Oral and hand hygiene behaviour and risk factors among in-school adolescents in four Southeast Asian countries.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate oral and hand hygiene behaviour and risk factors among 13 to 15 year-old in-school adolescents in four Southeast Asian countries. Data were collected by self-reported questionnaire from nationally representative samples (total 13,824) of school children aged 13 to 15 years in India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand. Results indicate that overall, 22.4% of school children reported sub-optimal oral hygiene (<twice a day tooth brushing), 45.2% did not always wash their hands before meals, 26.5% after toileting and 59.8% washing their hands with soap (59.8%). In multivariate analysis, male gender, health risk behaviours and lack of protective factors were associated with sub-optimal tooth brushing, and lower socioeconomic status, health risk behaviours, psychological distress and lack of protective factors were found to be associated with sub-optimal hand washing hygiene behaviour. As a conclusion, the cross-national data on oral and hand hygiene behaviour from four Southeast Asian countries found sub-optimal hygiene behaviour. Several determinants of sub-optimal hygiene behaviour were identified that can inform programmes in order to improve oral and hand hygiene behaviour of this adolescent population.
authors.affiliation: ASEAN Institute for Health Development, Madidol University, Salaya, Phutthamonthon, Nakhonpathom 73170, Thailand. kpeltzer@hsrc.ac.za.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Peltzer
authors.affiliation: ASEAN Institute for Health Development, Madidol University, Salaya, Phutthamonthon, Nakhonpathom 73170, Thailand. supaprom@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Supa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pengpid
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001210:Asia, Southeastern; D005260:Female; D063373:Hand Hygiene / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data