Availability and usage of latrine in selected coastal villages of South India: A community based cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Open field defecation is a major public health problem. In India, majority of rural population defecate in the open due to absence of proper sanitation facilities. Studies on latrine coverage and its usage in coastal regions of India is limited. Objectives: To estimate the proportion of households with latrine, proportion of people using latrine and to identify the factors related to non-usage of latrine Methods: A community based cross sectional study by house-to-house survey was conducted in the three coastal villages of Tamil Nadu. Data on availability and usage of latrine was collected. Proportion of hosueholds having and using latrine were calculated. We also calculated prevalence ratios to identify socio-demographic characteristics associated with usage of latrine. Results: Of 593 houses surveyed, 444 houses (75%) had latrine. The most common reason for not having latrine was the lack of money. Of 2480 individuals residing in 593 surveyed houses, 1032 (41.5 %) resorted to open-air defecation at least once in last 12 months. The most common reason was that they are habituated to open field defecation. Among the 1861 people who had latrine in their houses, only 1448 (78 %) were using it. Conclusions: One-fourth of the households didn't have a latrine facility and only three-fourths of the households having latrines are using it. Efforts in the form of Health education are needed to improve the availability and better usage of latrine facilities.

Keywords

• sanitation
• open field defecation
• tamil nadu
• coastal village