Personal Hygiene Status among Primary School Students in an Urban Area in the west of Turkey

Objective: This study was designed to determine the personal hygiene status in primary school students by using a scale that can be used in routine practice. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in Kutahya,Turkey.Three primary schools in the city center were randomly selected for the study sample. The study was conducted among 1521 students between Dec 13 and Dec 31, 2013. Students were informed about the nature of the research and only consenting students were given the questionnaires. The questionnaire form included the information on the sociodemographic characteristics and includes the questions about the personal hygiene habits. Participants were asked to complete the “Personal Hygiene Status Scale (PHSS)”. Results: Personal hygiene was considered to be inadequate for students with a score of 81.5 or under on the scale. Of the students, 27.7% had an inadequate personal hygiene. The number of students with poor hygiene increased with the decreasing maternal education level and household income level, the frequency of having poor hygiene was higher among male students and in those with a patriarchal family type. The personal hygiene status was not correlated with parental age, student age group and paternal education level. American Journal of Research Communication www.usa-journals.com Arikan, et al., 2014: Vol 2(7) 24 [email protected] Conclusion: This study may guide to the future studies on school health with suggesting that PHSS may be used as a reliable and valid scale which can be used easily.