title: Water and sanitation hygiene knowledge, attitude, and practices among household members living in rural setting of India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rural population in developing countries face water, sanitation, and hygiene-related health issues. To objectively highlight these issues, we studied the knowledge, attitude, and practices-related to drinking water and sanitation facilities among the rural population of Chennai, India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was designed involving individuals over 18 years of age living in Thandalam village, Chennai, India. Basic information about sociodemographic profile and existing drinking water and sanitation related knowledge, attitude, and practices was collected using a modified version of previously validated questionnaire and analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-five percent of the participants were not following any methods of water treatment and among them half of the participants felt that water available to them was clean and did not require any additional treatment. Twenty-five percent of the participants surveyed did not have access to toilets inside their household.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a need for intervention to educate individuals about drinking water treatment methods, sanitation, and hand washing practices.
authors.affiliation: Final Year MBBS Student, Saveetha Young Medical Researchers Group, Faculty of Medicine, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Saveetha University, Saveetha Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India ; Student, Operations Research in Population Health, Foundation of Healthcare Technologies Society, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Anjana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuberan
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Foundation of Healthcare Technologies Society, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Awnish Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Foundation of Healthcare Technologies Society, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Jyoti Bala
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kasav
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Foundation of Healthcare Technologies Society, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Satish
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Saveetha Medical College & Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Saveetha University, Saveetha Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India ; Research Affiliate, Foundation of Healthcare Technologies Society, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Krishna Mohan
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Surapaneni
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Foundation of Healthcare Technologies Society, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Vandana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Upadhyay
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, CUNY School of Public Health, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Ashish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joshi
keywords: Attitude; drinking water; household members; hygiene; knowledge; practices; rural settings; sanitation