Mothers’ Knowledge, Practices on House and Environmental Hygiene and Associated Factors in the Tegedie District, Northwest Ethiopia: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Globally, a significant percentage of diseases are communicable, with over 60% linked to infections and inadequate hygiene practices at home and in the environment. The gap between knowledge and actual practices further complicates access to improved hygiene. However, there is no study conducted on the knowledge and practices of housing and environmental hygiene. Consequently, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, practices, and factors influencing housing and environmental hygiene among household mothers. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from August 20, 2022, to September 15, 2022, involving 634 mothers selected through a two-stage sampling technique. Data were collected using pretested interviewer-administered and observation questionnaires, entered into Epi-Data 4.6, and analyzed with SPSS version 23. Out of 634 study participants, 72.4% had good knowledge and 58.7% had good hygiene practices. Being an urban dweller (AOR: 1.61; 95% CI [1.04, 2.49]), having access to media (AOR: 1.82; 95% CI [1.17, 2.84]), absence of flies in the house (AOR: 1.77; 95% CI [1.08, 2.91]), having a separate room for food preparation (AOR: 1.89; 95% CI [1.13, 3.18]), and preparing food outside the main house in an open space (AOR: 4.72; 95% CI [1.66, 13.56]) were identified as predictors of good hygiene knowledge. Age groups 18 to 26 years (AOR: 6.09; 95% CI [3.04, 12.19]), 27 to 35 years (AOR: 3.43; 95% CI [2.05, 5.74]), and 36 to 44 years (AOR: 2.02; 95% CI [1.20, 3.40]), having private latrines at the household level (AOR: 2.27; 95% CI [1.50, 3.45]), and being urban dwellers (AOR: 2.71; 95% CI [1.79, 4.12]) were predictors of good hygiene practices. Our findings show that household and environmental hygiene knowledge and practices were insufficient. Key factors included age, urban residence, media access, flies in the house, food preparation location, latrine availability, and water access within 30 min. We recommend hygiene training for mothers, with health workers and women’s groups promoting home hygiene. Rural health education should stress latrine use, hygiene facilities near latrines, and separate food preparation areas. Policymakers and healthcare providers should develop targeted interventions to improve maternal and child health.