Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Pablo Borbon Main II
Batangas City

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE and FINE ARTS

Civil and Sanitary Engineering Department

ENGG 416
RESEARCH METHODS

ASSESSMENT ON THE PERSONAL HYGIENE AND SANITATION

PRACTICES IN THE NEW NORMAL AMONG HOUSEHOLDS OF LUCKY
HOMES SUBDIVISION, SABANG LIPA CITY

SUBMITTED BY:

CANDOR, JOY MAE F.

FADERAGAO, ALENE KEITH F.

MENDOZA, ELLA MAE B.

RAMOS, PRINCESS JOY G.

GROUP 5

SUBMITTED TO:
ENGR. LOVELY C. AÑONUEVO

JANUARY 5, 2021
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter I: The Problem and
Candor, J.M., Faderagao, A.K., Mendoza, E.M., Ramos, P.J. (2020) Its Background

CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

This chapter presents the introduction, background of the study, its objectives,

significance of the study, scope and delimitations, conceptual framework, definition of

terms and acronyms used.

Introduction

COVID-19 is a global challenge that demands researchers, policy makers, and

governments to address multiple dimensions which will go far beyond the implications of

this pandemic for health and well-being. The world is rapidly learning about the SARS-

CoV-2 virus, including its origin, transmission, and progression of the condition it causes,

COVID-19. The pathogen responsible for COVID-19 is severe acute respiratory

syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, also referred to as the COVID-19 virus), a

member of the coronavirus family. Characterization of clinical manifestations associated

with COVID-19 and diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection are also improving. However,

the formulation of vaccine is still in process. Currently, there is no available vaccine and

the efficacy and safety of potential treatments remain low in the Philippines. The World

Health Organization WHO (2020), recommended household prevention measures

education on proper hygiene practices, including handwashing with soap and safe food

handling.

In the ongoing battle to contain the spread of COVID-19 disease, every measure that will

help to prevent this from spreading is very essential. This includes proper hygiene,

sanitation, and social distancing. According to the World Health Organization WHO
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(2020), personal hygiene is also considered as very important measures in preventing the

spread of the COVID-19 virus. It also interrupts the transmission of other viruses and

bacteria causing common colds, flu and pneumonia, thus reducing the general burden of

disease. Moreover, personal hygiene deficiency diseases have been found to be a serious

public health problem.

Good personal hygiene is essential for more than one reason; social, health,

personal, psychological or just as a way of life. Maintaining a good standard of hygiene

helps keep infections, illnesses and bad odors at bay. Personal hygiene can be defined as

an act of maintaining cleanliness and grooming of the external body. It entails keeping

hands, head and body clean so as to stop the spread of germs and illness. The importance

of hygiene should be taught from an early age to help cultivate good habits. Maintaining

good personal hygiene practices includes of bathing, washing hands, brushing teeth and

wearing clean cloths. Everyone’s personal hygiene benefits health and impacts the lives

of those around them.

The first place to start with personal hygiene routine is the hands. People use

hands constantly during the day, touching many different surfaces, shaking hands with

others, eating meals, typing on the laptop or using a common telephone at work.

Naturally, hands are the biggest carriers of germs. At this current situation, COVID-19

pandemic overly emphasized the importance of handwashing with soap to reduce the

spread of the virus. Along with the advice to wear face masks and face shields and

observe social distancing amidst the pandemic, health experts reminded that the simple

practice of handwashing with soap and clean water is also considered to be one of the

most effective ways to prevent the spread of diseases.

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Another important measure that everyone must consider is the proper sanitation.

Sanitation and hygiene are critical to health, survival, and development. Many countries

are challenged in providing adequate sanitation for their entire populations, leaving

people at risk for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)-related diseases. According to

UNICEF, throughout the world, an estimated 2.4 billion people lack basic sanitation

(more than 32% of the world’s population). Basic sanitation is described as having access

to facilities for the safe disposal of human waste (feces and urine), as well as having the

ability to maintain hygienic conditions, through services such as garbage collection,

industrial/hazardous waste management, and wastewater treatment and disposal.

Sanitation is important for all, helping to maintain health and increase life-spans.

According to WHO (2017), one key goal of sanitation is to safely reduce human exposure

to pathogens. Pathogens are excreted by infected individuals and if not properly

contained or treated, may present a risk to humans who come in contact with them. These

individuals can also be exposed to pathogens through drinking water or eating food

contaminated with pathogens found in human excreta. Moreover, sanitation can include

personal sanitation and public hygiene. Personal sanitation work can include

handling menstrual waste, cleaning household toilets, and managing household garbage.

Public sanitation work can involve garbage collection, transfer and treatment (municipal

solid waste management), cleaning drains, streets, schools, trains, public spaces,

community toilets and public toilets, sewers, operating sewage treatment plants, etc. The

overall purposes of sanitation are to provide a healthy living environment for everyone, to

protect the natural resources (such as surface water, groundwater, soil), and to provide

safety, security and dignity for people when they defecate or urinate.

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As of today, the provision of sanitation is really essential for preventing and for

protecting human health during all infectious disease outbreaks such as the coronavirus

disease 2019 (COVID-19). According to WHO, ensuring evidenced-based and

consistently applied safe water, sanitation, and adequate hygiene (WASH) and waste

management practices in communities, homes, schools, marketplaces, and healthcare

facilities will help prevent human-to-human transmission of pathogens including SARS-

CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The pandemic is making it evident that

investments in the provision of basic water, sanitation and hygiene services must be a key

priority in the coming years. According to The World Bank (2020), the current pandemic

has highlighted the need for safe water and sanitation in public places as well as domestic

settings and many governments are now responding to this. Building new handwashing

stations, with soap and clean water, is vital.

Proper sanitation and hygiene must be maintained if everyone want to live a

healthy and hygienic life. There is a famous proverb, ‘health is wealth’; because health is

considered as the most valuable and precious wealth for every individual. Good health

means not only the absence of disease in the body but a complete physical, mental, social

as well as spiritual well-being of an individual. People can enjoy good health if they

maintain cleanliness and hygiene at home and in workplace. There are so many new

diseases that are invading the human kind, and it is high time that they do not

compromise with the hygiene at home. It is everyone’s duty to make a clean and hygienic

environment at home to lead a healthy, happy and enjoyable life. And as they say,

precaution is always better than cure, and no one can take necessary precautions to guard
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themselves against several deadly diseases which may be caused due to unhygienic

environment such as the COVID-19.

One of the most important contributions everyone can make to slow down the

transmission of COVID-19 and keeping everyone and communities safe is to practice

personal hygiene and proper sanitation. Strictly following good handwashing and

personal hygiene practices is important for all, especially in health-care settings, where it

will help to protect both patients and health-care workers. Along with this concern, the

proposed study entitled “Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices in

the New Normal Among Households of Lucky Homes Subdivision, Sabang Lipa City”,

the researchers primarily aim to assess the different personal hygiene and sanitation

practices among households of the specified location and to propose a list of ways to

maintain proper hygiene and sanitation at home.

Background of the Study

Batangas is a province in the Philippines situated in the CALABARZON region

occupying the central section of Luzon. Its capital is the City of Batangas, and is

bordered by the provinces of Cavite and Laguna to the north, and Quezon to the east.

Across the Verde Island Passages to the south is the island of Mindoro and to the west

lies the South China Sea.

The province has a land area of 3,119.75 square kilometers or 1,204.54 square

miles. Its population as determined by the 2015 Census was 2,694,335. It is said to be

rank 7 from the most populated provinces in the Philippines. This represented 18.69% of

the total population of the CALABARZON region, 4.69% of the overall population of the

Luzon island group, or 2.67% of the entire population of the Philippines. The population
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density is computed at 864 inhabitants per square kilometer or 2,237 inhabitants per

square mile. It is comprising of 30 municipalities (Agoncillo, Alitagtag, Balayan, Balete,

Bauan, Calaca, Calatagan, Cuenca, Ibaan, Laurel, Lemery, Lian, Lobo, Mabini, Malvar,

Mataas na kahoy, Nasugbu, Padre Garcia, Rosario, San Jose, San Juan, San Luis, San

Nicolas, San Pascual, Santa Teresita, Taal, Talisay, Taysan, Tingloy, Tuy) and 4

component cities: Batangas City, Santo Tomas, Tanauan and Lipa city.

Lipa is a landlocked component city in the coastal province of Batangas. It has a

land area of 209.40 square kilometers or 80.85 square miles which constitutes 6.71% of

Batangas' total area. Its population as determined by the 2015 Census was 332,386 which

is divided into 72 barangays. One of those barangay is Brgy. Sabang that is situated at

approximately 13.9504, 121.1713, in the island of Luzon in which the focus of our study

is located: Lucky Homes Subdivision. Elevation at these coordinates is estimated at 316.4

meters or 1,038.0 feet above mean sea level. It has the most number of resident among

the 72 barangays. Its population as determined by the 2015 Census was 23,535 which

represented 7.08% of the total population of Lipa.

Lucky Homes Subdivision is a subdivision located in Brgy. Sabang, Lipa City

which will be the specific target location of the study. Out of 70 houses inside the Lucky

Homes Subdivision, the target respondents will be the people residing in the subdivision

that is limited to 60 households computed using the slovin’s formula. The main objective

of this study is to assess the personal hygiene and sanitation practices performed by the

residents during the new normal to ensure a healthy and clean environment for everyone.

It will also evaluate their knowledge and awareness regarding the preventive measures in

response to COVID-19.
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter I: The Problem and
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With increasing confirmed COVID-19 cases as well as deaths and recoveries in

Lipa City, Lucky Homes Subdivision is maintaining zero cases of Covid-19, researchers

took this opportunity to conduct a study. Almost 9 months had passed, the recorded

confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lipa City is 1, 374, 1,239 recoveries and 33 deaths

according to COVID-19 Philippines. In Barangay Sabang there were 70 confirmed cases,

79 recovered cases and 5 deaths based from the data posted by local government of Lipa

city. With this uncontrollable spread, there is always a need for a strict implementation of

personal hygiene and sanitation. Therefore, it is suited to be the location of our study.

There is a need to conduct this study in order to provide hygienic practices that will serve

as guide for the residents in the new normal setting. Moreover, this research paper will

not only benefit residents from Lipa city it would also bring awareness for others. This

paper will also serve as baseline information for future researchers in conducting related

study.

Objectives of the Study

The purpose of the study is to assess the personal hygiene and sanitation practices

in the new normal among houses at Lucky Homes Subdivision, Sabang, Lipa City.

Specifically, the study aims:

1. To determine the demographic profile of respondents in Lucky Homes Subdivision,

Sabang Lipa City in terms of:

1.1 sex;

1.2 highest educational attainment;

1.3 age;

1.4 household position; and

Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter I: The Problem and
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1.5 number of household members

2. To assess the personal hygiene performed among households in terms of:

2.1 hand hygiene;

2.2 oral hygiene; and

2.3 body hygiene

3. To assess the sanitation practices performed among households in terms of:

3.1 food sanitation;

3.2 house disinfection; and

3.3 solid waste management

4. To evaluate the effectiveness of implementing personal hygiene and sanitation

practices among houses regarding the COVID-19 pandemic; and

5. To provide a list of course of action to maintain proper hygiene and sanitation

practices at home.

Significance of the Study

The researchers would like to share the genuine interest how significant of the

study is to the following group of persons in terms of personal hygiene and sanitary

practices in the new normal:

Family. The family is the first benefactor as they are the first to teach and spread

awareness of good proper hygiene at home. This study will be their guide to gain more

knowledge on proper hygiene and sanitation on their households.

The parents. The study will benefit the parents with their special needs to

educate their whole family in the importance of proper hygiene especially in the ongoing
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battle to contain the spread of COVID-19 disease. This will provide the parents a self-

assurance to the health and safety of their family.

The youth. One of the direct recipients of this study are the youths with needs

and the study will provide them knowledge in able for them to avoid being infected by

this COVID-19 disease. Youths are among the most active in this global response: not

only they on the front liners such as health workers, but they are also advancing health

and safety in their role as a researcher, activists, innovators, and communicators.

The workers. The world of workers is being profoundly affected by this global

pandemic. Workers play a crucial role in providing a good service for all. The study will

help the people who work from different places and are exposed to COVID-19 virus by

providing them more knowledge on sanitation and proper hygiene and also learn different

ways to ensure their safety from being infected by the said virus while working.

Health care sectors. Since the health sector are the most prone to be infected by

the COVID-19 virus, this study will help them specially the doctors and nurses to ensure

their safety by providing them different course of action as to maintain proper hygiene

and sanitation at home that they can also apply in health care facilities as a shield to this

virus. When providing health care face to face, health care workers should take steps to

keep themselves safe and their patients too. Practicing and encouraging good hygiene

practices and sanitation would help them to protect themselves and persons around them.

The community. This study will help the community to gain awareness and

knowledge to prevent the spread of infectious diseases throughout the neighborhood,

school, compound, office space and others. Practicing and spreading hygiene knowledge

regularly will create a healthier community.

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Future Researchers. This study will serve as reference of future researchers for

their research undertakings and may use the gathered data as basis in conducting their

own about personal hygiene and sanitary practices during new normal.

Scope and Delimitation

The study will cover a small sample approximately 60 households’ members

residing at Lucky Homes Subdivision in Lipa City that will be the respondents of this

research. It is limited to the houses inside the said subdivision and does not include the

areas outside the vicinity of Lucky Homes Subdivision. The purpose of this research is to

assess the effect of enforcing proper hygiene and sanitation practices among the selected

houses at the specified location in the new normal.

The study includes determining the different hygiene and sanitation practices

performed inside their houses, the effectiveness of hygiene practices during the new

normal and providing a plan regarding the ways to maintain proper practices at home.

The researchers will also gather information using researchers’ made questionnaires to

assess the effectiveness of implementing such hygiene and sanitary practices at home and

to make the research sufficient. Also, the data will be collected through random sampling

and interpreted using statistical methods.

Conceptual Framework

The study focused on the concepts of maintaining proper hygiene and sanitation

practices performed among households during the new normal which is relevant to ensure

the safety of the people and enhance everyone’s awareness regarding those preventive

measures. The study discussed different types of personal hygiene such as hand, oral and

body hygiene as well as the sanitary practices which includes food sanitation, house
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disinfection and the solid waste management that were performed among households at

Lucky Homes Subdivision.

Regarding this, current studies were reviewed to be given justification as to

whether it should be implemented or improved and to weigh some considerations in order

to propose the best course of action or solution among households which they can

performed safely and to avoid possible dilemma that may occur. The researchers, at this

point focus on household’s activities that posed a greater risk of getting exposed to

viruses, possibly cause health problems and formulate necessary plan of action to prevent

them from affecting public health. Thus, the proposed program action was expected to

evolve around the preventive measures to ensure health and safety of public health.

Figure 1 below shows the input, process and the output of this research study. It

shows the flow of the study, which will serve as the guide on the conduct of this research.

This includes all the information and data needed, and the process on how the study must

come up into the output, which will be the resulting phase of the study.

The input includes the demographic profiles of the respondents based on their sex,

age, household position, highest educational attainment and the number of household

members. It will also determine the assessment of personal hygiene in terms of hand, oral

and body hygiene as well as the assessment of sanitary practices in terms of food

sanitation, house disinfection and the solid waste management that were performed

among households during the new normal.

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INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

1.Demographic Profile of
the Respondents in terms
of:
 Sex
 Age
 Household
Position
 Highest  Collection and
Educational attainment Gathering of Data
 Number of
Household Members
 Presentation of
2. Assessment of data Proposed List of
Personal Hygiene Ways in
Performed among Maintaining Proper
Households in terms of:  Analysis of Data Hygiene and
Sanitary Practices at
 Hand Hygiene Home During the
 Oral Hygiene  Interpretation of New Normal
 Body Hygiene data results from
the study for the
3. Assessment of formulation of
Sanitary Practices conclusion and
Performed among recommendation.
Households in terms of:
 Food Sanitation
 House Disinfection
 Solid Waste
Management

FEEDBACK

Figure 1. Research Paradigm

Following that is the process which includes collection and gathering of data

through the use of survey questionnaire, presentation of data, analysis of data and

interpretation of the results from the study for the formulation of conclusion and

recommendation. This enabled the researchers to come up with the main output, which is
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter I: The Problem and
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the proposed list of Alternative Ways in Maintaining Proper Hygiene and Sanitary

Practices at Home During the New Normal.

Lastly is the feedback. If the feedback is good then the research study is being

accomplished, but when the feedback needs more revisions, the researchers will then

undergo the same process. The researchers will use the following inputs in the process in

order to come up with better results or the output.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined conceptually and operationally to have a better

understanding of this research study.

Corona Virus 2019 Disease - is defined as illness caused by a novel coronavirus

now called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; formerly

called 2019-nCoV), which was first identified amid an outbreak of respiratory illness

cases in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China (Medscape, 2020). In this study, it is the

pandemic currently killing millions of people worldwide and continuously spreading to a

wide area of continents.

Health - state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely

the absence of disease or infirmity (Preamble to the Constitution of WHO, 1948). In this

study, this term refers to the state of being safe and free from disease by maintaining

proper hygiene and sanitation practices at home.

Households - includes the related family members and all the unrelated people, if

any, such as lodgers, foster children, wards, or employees who share the housing unit. A

person living alone in a housing unit, or a group of unrelated people sharing a housing

unit such as partners or roomers, is also counted as a household (U.S. Census Bureau,
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter I: The Problem and
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1990). In this study, it refers to a selected number of families residing at Lucky Homes

Subdivision, Sabang Lipa City.

Hygiene - refers to behaviors that can improve cleanliness and lead to good

health, such as frequent hand washing, face washing, and bathing with soap and water

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). In this study, it refers to the

conditions and practices performed at home to ensure cleanliness and safety of family

members from any diseases.

New Normal - it is a time of substantial possibilities if you are willing to play by

the new rules for the long term. In the new normal it is more important to do things right

than to succumb to the tyranny of urgency (McNamee, 2003). In this study, it is the new

way of living and going about our lives, work and interactions with other people due to

the effects COVID-19 virus.

Pandemic - is an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area,

crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people. (WHO,

2011). In this study, this term refers to the SARS-CoV-2 known as corona virus diseases

which is spreading quickly over a wide area across countries and continents.

Sanitation - generally refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe

disposal of human urine and feces. It also refers to the maintenance of hygienic

conditions, through services such as garbage collection and wastewater disposal. (WHO,

2011). In this study, it refers to the common practices at home that help ensure and

maintain health and hygienic conditions of every household.

Social Distancing -it is also called “physical distancing,” which means keeping a

safe space between yourself and other people who are not from your household. Stay at
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least 6 feet (about 2 arms’ length) from other people who are not from your household in

both indoor and outdoor spaces (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). On

this study, it means staying at home and away from others as much as possible. This

includes the practice of 1meter distance from other people and one of the most important

preventive actions to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Acronyms

COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019)

KAPs (Knowledge, Attitude and Practices)

WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)

WHO (World Health Organization)

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the literature and studies which have similarities and bearing

with this study. These will help shape and give discussion to the framework of this

research. It might provide an overview to the present study: Assessment on the Personal

Hygiene and Sanitation Practices in the New Normal among Households of Lucky

Homes Subdivision, Sabang Lipa City. In attempt to provide better understanding, here

are the concept and research literature related to the topic.

Conceptual Literature

Various authority views and research studies related to the present study

“Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices in the New Normal

Among Households of Lucky Homes Subdivision Sabang Lipa City’’ is consider,

followed by some insights based from specific literature. The researchers gather these

conceptual literature and other related writings from different articles and authors which

in one way or another were related to the present studies.

PERSONAL HYGIENE

In the study of Al-Rifaai et.al (2018) personal hygiene was defined as the

implementation of cleanliness and maintain it in our daily life. It stated that it is also

about promoting and preserving body health. The term “hygiene” comes from the Greek

word “Hygeia,” which means goddess of health, cleanliness, and sanitation. It was

supported by the study of Sarkar M. in his study that it reported that the health knowledge

in personal in hygiene was significant to the improvement when people are educated

about it. Teaching personal hygiene can give the people with the knowledge in health,
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making them aware of the reduction of risk associated with poor hygiene practices, such

as disease transmission.

In the study of Ames (2020) outlined and discussed different types of hygiene,

self-care routines, and what may happen if hygiene practices lapse. This includes dental

hygiene routine which can help prevent issues such as gum disease and cavities and bad

breath. Next is body hygiene, in which million sweat glands cover the human body.

When bacteria break down sweat, the process creates a smell or body odor. Another one

is hand washing; regular hand washing is one of the best ways to avoid spreading

communicable diseases. In connection with that, the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC) recommend washing the hands at certain times: before, during, and

after preparing food, before eating food, before and after looking after anyone who is

vomiting or has diarrhea, before and after treating a cut or wound, after going to the

bathroom, after changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet, after

blowing the nose, coughing, or sneezing, after touching garbage or dirty surfaces or

objects, after handling pets or pet-related items, such as food. In nails hygiene, using

sanitized tools to trim the nails and keep them short is one of the best ways to ensure that

no dirt can collect underneath them. In menstrual and genital hygiene, it is important to

change sanitary products regularly and to wash the hands before and after changing

tampons, pads, or any other sanitary products.

Moreover, in the article written by Ko (2020), maintaining personal hygiene is necessary

for many reasons; personal, social, health, psychological or simply as a way of life.

Keeping a good standard of hygiene helps to prevent the development and spread of

infections, illnesses and bad odors. Specifically, most people are very conscious of
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personal hygiene because everyone were taught of the importance of hygiene from an

early age. Next, for the body image which has a huge influence on self-esteem,

confidence and motivation of a person. Those who already have low self-esteem and

especially those with depression often neglect personal hygiene which perpetuates the

problem of poor body image. In terms of social reasons, most people hate to be talked

about, especially in a negative manner. By ensuring that body is clean and well presented,

every individual was more assured of projecting a positive body image that reflects our

personalities. In terms of health reasons, poor hygiene can lead to poor health. Lastly in

terms of psychological issues, by being well presented, clean and tidy, people can feel

more confident, especially in social situations. Chances of succeeding either in work or

social settings, or even with the opposite sex can be altered by maintenance of good

hygiene.

The Department of Defense (2020), as addition to the above information in terms of the

new normal setting, discussed the precautionary safety measures to prevent COVID-19

infection this also includes personal protection and hygiene, social distancing measures,

environmental measures and food safety measures. The practice of personal cleanliness

and hygiene at all times of every individual in the community is vital to containing the

spread of diseases and protecting the whole community. The following practices should

be observed to halt the spread of COVID-19 virus from infected individuals:(1)

Respiratory etiquette: a) Cough and sneeze into tissue or into shirt sleeve if tissue is not

available. b) Dispose used tissues properly and disinfect hands immediately after a cough

or sneeze. c) Avoid touching the eyes, nose and mouth to help slow the spread of the
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virus. d) Use face masks when necessary such as when you have respiratory

infection/symptoms.

In terms of social distancing measures: a.) Whenever possible, keep a distance of

at least 3 feet or 1 meter away from other people to reduce the possibility of person-to-

person transmission. This distance should be observed even as to apparently healthy

persons without symptoms. b.) Avoid handshakes and “beso beso” as much as possible.

c.) Stay at home and follow the government’s regulations on community

quarantine/lockdown. In terms of environmental measures: a.) Clean frequently-touched

surfaces and objects, including cellphones, gadgets, tables, doorknobs, desks. b.)

Maintaining the environment clean, especially common-use areas and those with

touchpoints such as railings, staircases, light switches, and the like. c.) Clean surfaces

such as tables, counters and sinks using a safe household disinfectant. Lastly, in terms of

food safety measures includes: a.) Avoid consumption of raw or undercooked animal

products. Handle raw meat, milk or animal organs with care to avoid cross-contamination

with uncooked food, as per good food safety practices. b.) If possible, use utensils when

eating. Avoid kamayan or boodle fights. c.) When visiting live animal markets, wet

markets or animal product markets: (1) Practice general hygiene measures, including

regular handwashing with soap and potable water after touching the animals and animal

products (3) Avoid contact with (a) sick animals or spoiled animal products (b) other

animals possibly living in the market (e.g. stray cats and dogs, rodents, birds, bats) and

(c) potentially contaminated animal waste or fluids on the soil or structures of shops and

market facilities, d.) Do not slaughter sick animals for consumption. Bury or destroy dead

animals and avoid contact with their body fluids without protective clothes.
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HAND HYGIENE

According to the study of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, hand

hygiene is a way of cleaning one’s hands that can reduce the potential pathogens or

harmful microorganisms on the hands that can be a source of diseases. This study was

supported by the study of Boyce et. Al (2002) in the guideline for hand hygiene in health-

care settings which states that hand hygiene is a general term that applies to either

handwashing, antiseptic handwash, antiseptic hand rub, or surgical hand antisepsis to get

rid of some harmful microorganisms that may cause and transmit a disease. Moreover,

according to Kadi A. and Salati (2012) in their study of Hand Hygiene Practices among

Medical Students that hand hygiene is a cost-effective method in preventing infection

transmission. Hand hygiene practices have been found to be faulty in most healthcare

settings. It was concluded that serious efforts are needed to improve the hand hygiene

practices among medical students. The WHO hand hygiene observation method of Sax et

al. (2009) that first Global Patient Safety Challenge known as “Clean Care is Safer Care,”

an evidence-based, user-centered concept, “My five moments for hand hygiene,” has

been developed for measuring, teaching, and reporting hand hygiene adherence. This

concept is an integral part of the WHO's hand hygiene improvement strategy conceived

to translate the WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care into practice.

As per advice of the WHO, it is important to wash hands with soap and water, and dry

them thoroughly. The use alcohol-based hand rub if there is no immediate access to soap

and water is also advisable. Washing hands properly takes about as long as singing

"Happy Birthday" twice. First, wet hands with water. Apply enough soap to cover all

hand surfaces. Rub hands palm to palm, right palm over left dorsum with interlaced
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finger and vice versa. Next is palm to palm with finger interlaced followed by backs of

fingers to opposing palms with fingers interlocked. Then, rotational of left thumb clasped

in right palm and vice versa. Rotational rubbings backward and forward with clasped

finger of right hand in left palm and vice versa. Rinse hands with water, then dry

thoroughly with single used towel. Lastly, turn off the faucet using the towel.

SANITATION 

Sanitation is defined as “the provision of facilities and services for the safe

disposal of human urine and feces." Sanitation differs from hygiene in that it provides the

means for people to be hygienic. Hygiene is the ability to participate in “conditions and

practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of disease." According to

WHO (2019), benefits of improved sanitation exted well beyond reducing the risk of

diarrhea and many other diseases. These includes reducing the spread of intestinal

worms, schistosomiasis and trachoma, which are neglected tropical diseases that cause

suffering for millions; reducing the severity and impact of malnutrition; promoting

dignity and boosting safety, particularly among women and girls; promoting school

attendance: girls’ school attendance is particularly boosted by the provision of separate

sanitary facilities; and potential recovery of water, renewable energy and nutrients from

fecal waste.

DISINFECTION

In the study of Pfuntner (2011) disinfection is defined as to destroy or to make the

specified fungi and bacteria inactivate or unable to spread in a certain time, but not

necessarily the spores, on hard surfaces. Disinfection can be a measure to be employed in

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food processing and preparation in terms of having a good hygiene in handling food. This

study was supported by the study of the National Pesticide Information Center which

stated that disinfection can kill or prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi and some

target specific viruses.

Disinfection practices are important to reduce the potential for COVID-19 virus

contamination in non-healthcare settings, such as in the home, office, schools, gyms,

publicly accessible buildings, faith-based community centers, markets, transportation and

business settings or restaurants. High-touch surfaces in these non-health care settings

should be identified for priority disinfection such as door and window handles, kitchen

and food preparation areas, counter tops, bathroom surfaces, toilets and taps, touchscreen

personal devices, personal computer keyboards, and work surfaces.

According to Bloomfield S. (2007) in the study of importance of disinfection as a

means of prevention in changing world hygiene and the home, evaluates the causes of

infection so as to be able to react in an appropriate manner. The aim cannot be routine,

daily repetitive decontamination of all potentially dangerous microbes that are found in a

normal household, but rather selective reaction to important transmission processes, i.e.

hands and foodstuffs, kitchen, bathroom and toilet. This calls for an understanding of the

risks and of effective procedures for microbial reduction. Depending on the respective

circumstances, hands can be washed with running water or by using a hand disinfectant.

Study data demonstrate that disinfectants have become indispensable in the household in

the context of “selective hygiene strategies” so as to prevent infectious diseases.

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Furthermore, according to the book entitled “Disinfection” written by

Kırmusaoğlu S. (2018), disinfection is the method to destroy most microbial forms,

especially vegetative

pathogens rather than bacterial spores, by using physical and chemical procedures such as

UV radiation, boiling and vapor. There are also many guidelines for choosing and using

proper disinfection and sterilization methods by effective disinfectants in distinct areas,

and application of disinfection and sterilization methods in many countries, such as

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Society of Healthcare

Epidemiology of America (SHEA). The book entitled “Disinfection and

Decontamination:

A similar study of Moldenhauer J. entitled “A Practical and Handbook” discussed

that disinfectants can be divided into two groups: Non-oxidizing and Oxidizing. Non-

oxidizing disinfectants include alcohol (which disrupt the bacterial cell membranes);

aldehydes (which denature bacterial cell protein and can use coagulation of cellular

protein); amphoteric (which have both anionic and cationic character and possess a

relative wide spectrum of activity); phenolics (some phenols use bacterial cell damage

through disruption of proton motive force); and quaternary ammonium compounds

(QACs, which cause cytoplasm leakage and cytoplasm coagulation through interaction

with phospholipids).

Research Literature

This paper reviews the research literature on the personal hygiene and sanitary

practices among households. It is from different local and foreign studies or thesis papers

of different researchers. More often this will provide some follow up information related
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to the study. The following research literature will help in discussing and elaborating the

present topic.

Local Literature

This contains some local studies that are related to this research. These studies

also show relevance to the problem encountered in maintaining proper personal hygiene

and sanitary practices among households.

In the study conducted by Lau, et al. (2020) entitled “Knowledge, attitudes and

practices of COVID-19 among income-poor households in the Philippines: A cross-

sectional study” evaluate presence of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries

(LMICs) that are raising important concerns about effective pandemic response and

preparedness in the context of fragile health systems and the pervasiveness of

misinformation. The objective of this study was to gain an understanding of how

COVID-19 was perceived by households experiencing extreme poverty in the

Philippines. However, although knowledge of transmission routes was high, appropriate

preventive measures against COVID-19 were not well-identified. The majority (82.2%)

of respondents recognized hand hygiene as an important preventive measure against

infection, but there was a lack of identification of other key measures such as social

distancing and avoiding large crowds, and despite an association between knowledge and

practice, the proportion of people adopting preventive practices was relatively low. This

also involves a greater number of preventive measures such as handwashing, social

distancing, wearing masks, etc. in response against the virus.

Frequencies and proportions were calculated to describe the respondents’ responses, and

the Kruskal-Wallis test and binomial logistic regression were undertaken to determine the
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socio-demographic characteristics associated with COVID-19 KAPs (Knowledge,

Attitude and Practices). Among the different practices, handwashing was the

most common preventive practice in response to COVID-19, adopted by 89.9% of

respondents.

In relation to this, there is also a study conducted by Perez et al. (2017) entitled

“Food Safety and Sanitary Practices of Selected Hotels in Batangas Province,

Philippines: Basis of Proposed Enhancement Measures” that otherwise aimed to assessed

the extent of food safety and sanitary practices of selected hotels in Batangas province as

basis of proposed enhancement measures. The study utilized descriptive method to

describe food safety and sanitary practices of selected hotels in Batangas province with a

total of 8 hotels (256 respondents). Purposive sampling was used in the study. The study

showed that there were eight (8) hotel respondents classified as two, three, four stars with

considerable years of experience and adequate number of employees.

The hotels demonstrated the food safety and sanitary practices always in the

areas of restaurant, bar service, catering and banquet and room service. The significant

pair-wise comparison for restaurant, bar service, catering and banquet and room service

shows that two stars hotels greatly differ. The researcher recommends that the

management should maintain high standard of food safety and sanitary practices among

its staff, upgrade the food safety and sanitary practices for food safety accreditation,

continuous training of the hotel managers/employees on food safety and sanitary

practices.

In the study done by Villanueva and Edano (2019) entitled “Hygiene and Sanitation

Practices of the Badjaos in IBA, Zambales” focused on assessing the level of practices on
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hygiene and sanitation of Badjao pupils, students and their parents. It also aimed to

present the living condition the Badjao folks at the host community as well as the

perceptions on appropriate and practiced hygiene and sanitation. It made use of

descriptive and qualitative

research designs with survey questionnaire and structured interview as the data gathering

tools. The data were processed and analyzed using percentage, frequency counts, mean

and Analysis of Variance.

Based on the findings, the researcher concluded that majority of the Badjao-

respondent are female in their middle adolescent and are grade six pupils. The Badjao

pupil/student-respondents always practiced personal hygiene, frequently practiced food

and environment hygiene and sanitation. The respondents made disagreement and

dissimilarities of practices, opinion and perspective towards personal, food and

environmental and sanitation practices.

In addition, Asilo, et al. (2018), in their study entitled “Hand Hygiene

Knowledge, Practice and Facilities Utilization of Pupils in Batangas City, Philippines:

Basis for Proposed Hand Hygiene Activities”, observe and evaluate the hand hygiene

knowledge, practice and facilities utilization of pupils in Batangas City, Philippines

during academic year 2016-2017. They analyzed the responses of the pupils through the

use of frequency counts, weighted mean, t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to

determine the difference of responses among grade levels and school type.

The study found out that school type had the most influence on pupils’ learning

concepts about hand hygiene as well as its implementation and the provision of adequate

supplies & facilities. Public school pupils showed higher scores in hand hygiene
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knowledge, practice and facilities utilization as well as greater interest on the proposed

hand hygiene activities. These included, among others, conduct of health teaching on

proper hand hygiene technique with disease education and preparation of individual

hygiene kit for pupils.

Moreover, the study of Cajegas et al. (2007) entitled “Relationship between

sanitation practices and nutritional status of pre-school children in Lower Ladtingan,

Pikit, Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines” showed that the nutritional status of the pre-

school children had a highly significant relationship with their food safety and sanitation

practices In terms of the source of drinking water, out of the 50 households studied,

majority or 82% got their drinking water from the water works system, majority or 50%

of the household respondents used water-sealed toilets as their toilet facility. As to the

type of garbage disposal, 54% threw their garbage in the river and anywhere. Of the 53

pre- school children, majority (64.2%) belonged to the category of “at least normal”. For

the food safety and sanitation practices, majority or 60% of the household respondents

belonged to the “at most fair” category. In this study, it can be concluded that food safety

and sanitation practices affected the nutritional status of the pre- school children in Lower

Ladtingan, Pikit, Cotabato.

Foreign Literature

There are also some conducted related studies to the topic from other countries.

Mostly of the research paper focused on schools and universities as their respondents and

some are in residential areas.

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On the study conducted by Vivas, Gelaye,  Aboset, Kumie,

Berhane, and Williams (2010) entitled “Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) of

Hygiene among School Children in Angolela, Ethiopia”, the study evaluated the

knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of hygiene among rural school children in

Ethiopia and assessed the extent to which proper knowledge of hygiene was associated

with personal hygiene

characteristics. Study findings underscore the need for more hand washing and hygiene

education in schools; and provide objective evidence that may guide the development of

comprehensive health and hygiene intervention programs in rural Ethiopian schools.

Successful implementation of these programs is likely to substantially attenuate the

transmissible disease burden borne by school children in rural settings.

Similar to the above study, Sarkar M. (2013) conducted a research that was

undertaken to find out the knowledge and practice of personal hygiene among the

primary school children living in a slum area, to identify any misconception among them

regarding the maintenance of personal hygiene, to find out their morbidity pattern, and

also to elicit the relationship between practice of personal hygiene among the children

and the literacy status of their mother. The researchers found out that future of a society

depends considerably on the health of its children. The parents and the school teachers, as

constructive shapers of children’s health behaviors, should play a responsible role in an

early education of children on personal hygiene.

On the study conducted by Odonkor, Kitcher, Okyere & Mahami (2019), which evaluate

the personal hygiene practices among university students aiming at providing a basis for

preventive and predictive medical interventions and to make future efforts improve target
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interventions for young people. Researcher observed that females had a significantly

good practice of personal hygiene and sanitary practices as compared to males. Lack of

education was observed as the main barrier to personal hygiene among the respondents.

Lack of education about hygiene appears key in predicting poor hygiene practices,

similarly to inadequate water supply, and sheer laziness to comply with the tenets of

hygiene as well as excuses for lack of time or the want of time. Most of the respondents

were within the ages of 19-24 years. The majority of the respondents have therefore just

been over the adolescent stage. The researcher found out that significant number of

students are not actively practicing good hygiene. There is a need for deployment of

preventive medicine interventions targeted at young people. It calls for improvement in

methods of hygiene education for young people in tertiary institutions and the inclusion

of hygiene in school curricular.

It is undeniable that the knowledge of people to personal hygiene and it’s

practices still lack. People treat personal hygiene and proper sanitation lightly and

disregard its importance. Still, it was a big challenge for everyone to attain a proper

hygiene for all. Sanitation and personal hygiene practices are heavily influenced by

peoples’ knowledge and attitude towards it. With the increase in health risks to humans in

this time of pandemic, it has become very important to stay hygienic. The habit of being

hygienic should start and developed from a younger aged. The children need to be taught

the importance of both personal hygiene and proper sanitation of our surroundings

through the help and guidance of parents and teachers in school. School based health

education program with the participation of parents and students would be beneficial in

order to enlighten them about personal hygiene practices and sanitation.

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In terms of maintaining personal hygiene and proper sanitation at home, Karna,

Bhandari, Jha (2012), assessed the personal hygiene and sanitary condition of the

Katahari Village Development Committee (VDC) by using cross sectional study. The

result entailed that there was significant association between education and toilet

facilities among community people. Land holding and type of family had no significant

association with toilet facilities. As a conclusion, the knowledge regarding sanitation was

high among community people but very poor in practice.

Specifically, in terms of oral hygiene, the study of Gopikrishna, Bhaskar,

Kulkarni, Jacob, Sourabha (2016) assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of oral

hygiene among college students in Bengaluru city. A descriptive cross-sectional survey

was conducted in order to gather the relevant information. The researchers found out that

toothbrush with toothpaste is the most common oral hygiene aid used for cleaning teeth.

More than half of the students felt that dental caries affected their esthetics. Students felt

that the health of the mouth and dentition had an impact on the health of the body.

In the study of Liu, Wei, Alvarez, Wang, Du, Zhu, Jiang, Zhou, Lam, Zhang,

Lackner, Qin and Chen (2011), the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects human cells using the

ACE2 receptors, which are widely distributed in the upper respiratory tract (hence the

lung lesions it causes in affected people) and the epithelial cells lining the ducts of the

salivary glands, these being early targets of infection. They can also be in the mouth,

mainly on the tongue, which is a great reservoir of viral germs. Therefore, it is implied in

the study of ToKK-W, Tsang OT-Y, Chik-Yan Yip C, Chan K-H, Wu T-C, Chan JMC, et

al. (2020), consistent tooth brushing, interproximal hygiene and tongue cleaning are

essential in order to reduce the viral load in the oral area.

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Additionally, Yoko Warabi, Shinsuke Tobisawa, Tomoya Kawazoe, Aki

Murayama, Ryohei Norioka, Ryo Morishima, Tomoyuki Inoue, Toshio Shimizu, and

Kazushi Takahashi (2020) assess the effects of oral care on prolonged viral shedding in

coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) patients. Researchers found out that most of the

patients with COVID‐19 had a viral shedding period of 30 days or less. In cases of

prolonged viral shedding (≥44 days), noninfectious viral nucleic acid may have

accumulated in uncleaned oral cavities and continued to be detected. In connection with

this, the researchers suggested that tooth brushing and gargling remove such viral nucleic

acid and improve the accuracy of PCR testing.

In terms of solid waste management, Nzediegwu & Chang (2020) studied the

improper solid waste management increases potential for COVID-19 spread in

developing countries. Currently, millions of contaminated face masks, gloves, PPEs and

materials for diagnosing, detecting and treating SARS-CoV-2 and other human pathogens

are undergoing the irreversible process of becoming infectious waste. This, in turn, will

cause environmental and health problems if they are improperly stored, transported and

handled.

Moreover, according to Singh, Tang, Zhang, & Zheng (2020), due to the

increased healthcare waste owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the threat that unsafe

disposal of medical waste will spill over into environmental pollution is palpable and

immediate. Waste generation amid COVID-19, especially discarded PPEs and single-use

plastics, has been an environmental and public health crisis around the world particularly

in the countries with developing economies and those in transition. Safe solid waste
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management is already a matter of major concern to these countries where safe and

sustainable practice is scarce and healthcare waste has not been adequately regulated.

In connection with the above studies, adequate water, sanitation and hygiene are

essential components of providing basic health services. The provision of WASH serves

to prevent infections and spread of diseases and uphold the dignity of vulnerable

populations including pregnant women, disabled, person with health complications and

babies. WASH has the potential to prevent at least 9.1% of the global disease burden and

6.3% of all

deaths. That’s why there is a need to promote and improve WASH behaviors in order to

reduce morbidity due to infectious diseases.

Synthesis

The researchers are reassured by the reviewed studies and literature which are of

great help in expanding the concepts and theories with regards to the present study.

Although there are similarities observed from these studies, differences were also

recognized.

The study of Lau, et al. (2020) is similar to the present study in the sense that they

both focus on the concept of maintaining sanitary or preventive measures as an effective

response to COVID-19 and how it was perceived by households. However, the present

study covers the assessment of personal hygiene and sanitary practices among households

in Lucky Homes Subdivision, Sabang Lipa City. Moreover, they differ in research

instrument and methodology they use, as well as the respondents and place where the

studies were conducted.

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In addition, the study of Perez et al. (2017), Gopikrishna, Bhaskar, Kulkarni,

Jacob, Sourabha (2016) and the present study utilized descriptive method to describe

sanitary practices though they differ from the practices being assessed as the present

study will focus on the hygiene and sanitation practices among households. They also

differ with their respondents; the present study involves selected households at Lucky

Homes Subdivision, Lipa City. Furthermore, the study of Asilo, et al. (2018) bears

similarity to the present study in terms of the research methodology and instrument being

used.

Moreover, the study of Villanueva and Edano (2019) are similar in a way that

they both focused on assessing and the level of practices on hygiene and sanitation in a

particular area and people. It is also similar in the present study as they both made use of

descriptive and qualitative research designs with survey questionnaire as the data

gathering tools. However, they are different in terms of the type and the number of

respondents involved as the present only includes selected households in a specific

subdivision in Sabang, Lipa City.

Furthermore, the study of Cajegas et al. (2007) is closely related to the present

study with regards to determining the relationship between sanitation practices and

nutritional status. In despite of this, they differ in terms of the concepts being discussed

and studied. Moreover, the study of Vivas et. al (2010) and Sarkar M. (2013) are related

to the present study in a way that they discussed knowledge and practice of personal

hygiene associated with personal hygiene characteristics although they have different

samples and location.

Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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Additionally, the study of Odonkor et. al (2019) also evaluate the personal

hygiene practices aiming at providing a basis for preventive and predictive medical

interventions and to make future efforts improve target interventions for people which is

also one of the objectives of the present study. In accordance with the present study, the

research done by Karna, Bhandari, Jha (2012) is closely related in terms of maintaining

personal hygiene and proper sanitation at home.

The study of Gopikrishna, Bhaskar, Kulkarni, Jacob, Sourabha (2016), Yoko

Warabi, Shinsuke Tobisawa, Tomoya Kawazoe, Aki Murayama, Ryohei Norioka, Ryo

Morishima, Tomoyuki Inoue, Toshio Shimizu, and Kazushi Takahashi (2020) and of Liu,

Wei, Alvarez, Wang, Du, Zhu, Jiang, Zhou, Lam, Zhang, Lackner, Qin and Chen (2011)

has something to do with the oral hygiene, oral hygiene practices and oral care in

connection with COVID-19 virus. Moreover, the study of Nzediegwu & Chang (2020)

and Singh, Tang, Zhang, & Zheng (2020) focused on solid wastes and solid waste

management during COVID-19 pandemic. Among the five studies, they are different to

the present study in terms of place being conducted and the respondents involved. The

recent mentioned studies will serve as a support for the interpretation of data being

analyzed.
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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter will explain the details in overall process of investigation. It will also

discuss particularly the methods and techniques the researchers are going to employ in

identifying the respondents, constructing the research instrument that elaborates on

validation and reliability, and the explanation on how the data are obtained from various

sources.

Research Design

The researchers will be using the descriptive type of research design. Descriptive

research designs help provide answers to the questions of who, what, when, where, and

how associated with a particular research problem thus cannot conclusively ascertain

answers to why. In this study, the researchers want to assess the personal hygiene and

sanitation practices during the new normal. This involves the limited number of

respondents among households at Lucky Homes Subdivision, Sabang Lipa City

considering their location and availability. The researchers choose this type of research

design since it can be beneficial in obtaining information concerning the current

pandemic cause by COVID-19 occurring worldwide. In line with this, the main purpose

of this study is to recommend preventive and protective measures in maintaining proper

hygiene and sanitation practices at home.

Subject of the Study

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The chosen subject for this study is the residents of Lucky Homes Subdivision in

Barangay Sabang, Lipa City. Through the use of Slovin’s Formula with 5%margin of

error, 60 households are chosen among the 70-overall households. To avoid bias in the

respondents and for them to have an equal chance to be selected the researcher used this

method. Total of 60 respondents: 1 member per households will be given a validated and

reliable questionnaire to answer. Considering the population and the situation of the

people at the subdivision, this area is suited to be the location of study. The researchers

want to select a population where the respondents have somewhat an understanding to the

topic of personal hygiene and sanitation and the different practices they apply. Aside

from the availability that the researchers have, at this current situation, respondents are

more aware and open to the concept of the need to prioritize personal hygiene and

sanitation together with health and through their initiatives they maintain a zero case of

COVID-19 case.

Research Instrument

The instrument that will be using in this research is a method of survey through

researchers’ made questionnaires, as the researchers believed that in order to assess the

personal hygiene and sanitation practices performed by the residents during the new

normal, this approach is the most appropriate research instrument to get the relevant data.

It was used to reach a large number of respondents within a short period of time, it gave

the respondents an adequate time to respond in every item, and lastly, it offered a sense of

security (confidentiality).

Through the use of rating scale, consist of checklist and statements, researchers

can easily assess the personal hygiene and sanitation practices performed by the residents
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during the new normal. The overall number of statements to be classified by the

respondents is 35. In which, 5 statements each in terms of hand hygiene, body hygiene,

oral hygiene practices, food sanitation, house disinfection, solid waste management and

assessment on the effectiveness of the said practices. After gathering the questionnaires

answered by the respondents it undergoes into data analysis process.

Data Gathering Procedure

Prior to the commencement of data gathering, the researchers will obtain all the

necessary and needed information. After the self-made questionnaire has been checked

and approved by the research adviser, Provincial Health Officer of Batangas Province,

and City Health Officer of Batangas City, only one member of the group will conduct a

survey in chosen 60 households in Lucky Homes Subdivision in order to follow safety

measures that the municipality implemented and also the researcher was solely a Lucky

Homes Subdivision’s resident. Since data gathering is in face to face manner, the

researcher is also to strictly follow the COVID-19 control guidelines including wearing

facemasks and face shield and maintain a 1-meter distance from the respondents.

There should be 1 respondent per households. The researcher will personally hand

in the questionnaire in able to discuss if there is any problem arises. The respondents are

to be inform about the confidentiality of their responses and that the data will only be

utilized for the purpose of the study. Since the instrument will not take too long to be

answered by the respondents, the researcher will wait for them to finish answering the

questionnaire. The researcher will ensure that the respondents have answered the

questions for the completion of the data to be gathered. Then finally, the data gathered
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and response is to be tallied, tabulated, consolidated, statistically treated and interpreted.

Through the use of rating scale, the gathered answered questionnaires will be classified.

Process Flow Diagram

Presented in Figure 2 are the data gathering procedures of the research study. It

shows the flow of process which includes determining the research design must be

applied in the study, how the researchers will collect data, methods to analyze them as

well as the statistical treatment needed to interpret the information to assess the hygiene

and sanitation practices among households at the specified location.

In research design, the researchers will use the descriptive type in which the

researchers are to assess the personal hygiene and sanitation practices during the new

normal by providing answers to the questions who, what, when, where, and how

associated with a particular research problem thus cannot conclusively ascertain answers

to why. On the other hand, the research instrument to be use is a survey questionnaire

which is applicable in obtaining relevant data from 60 target respondents within a short

period of time.

The data gathering procedure includes checking and approval of the

questionnaires, distribution of survey questionnaires, collection of data from the survey,

analysis and interpretation of results and the summary of findings. These are the process

needed to be accomplished in order to collect adequate information that are beneficial to

the study. Lastly is the statistical treatment which includes the frequency, weighted mean
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and ranking. These are critical approaches needed to achieve the desired results of the

research.

Research Design
 Descriptive Research

Research Instrument
 Researchers’ Made Survey Questionnaire

Data Gathering Procedure

 Questionnaire Checking and Approval
 Distribution of Survey
 Collection of Data from the Survey
 Analysis and Interpretation of Results
 Summary of Findings

Statistical Treatment of Data

 Frequency and Percentage
 Weighted Mean
 Ranking

Figure 2. Process Flow Diagram

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Statistical Treatment of Data

Statistical treatment of data is essential to make use of the data in the right form. Raw

data collection is only one aspect of any study. This identifies the statistical formula used

in the study and in justifying its uses. The statistical formula will be using in this study is

the Slovin’s Formula and the sample size computed by the researchers are 60 respondents

where there should be 1 respondent per households.

1. Frequency and Percentage

A frequency and percentage distribution is a display of data that specifies the

percentage of observations that exist for each data point or grouping of data points. The

process of creating frequency and percentage distribution involves identifying the total

number of observations with each data point or grouping of data points. In this study,

frequency will be using to determine the frequency count of the responses of respondents

concerning their sex, age, household position, highest educational attainment and number

of household members.

Formula:

f
P= Equation 1
N

Where:

P = Percentage

F = Frequency

N = Number of respondents

2. Weighted Mean
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A weighted mean is a type of average. Instead of each data point contributing

equally to the final mean, some data points contribute more weight than others. In this

research paper, weighted mean will be used to determine the average response of

respondents regarding personal hygiene in terms of hand, oral, body hygiene and

sanitation practices in terms of food sanitation, house disinfection and solid waste

management performed among households.

Formula:

x́ =
∑ [ (f)(w) ] Equation 2
n

Where:

x́ = weighted mean

F = frequencies of the given

w = weights

n = total number of respondents

3. Ranking

Ranking is a question response format used when a researcher is interested in

establishing some type of priority among a set of objects, whether they be policies,

attributes, organizations, individuals, or some other topic or property of interest. In this

study, ranking will be utilize by the researchers to rank the data in numerical or ordinal

values are replaced by their rank when the data are sorted, in which (4) is considered as

the highest in rank.

Option Scale Verbal Interpretation

4 3.26 - 4.00 Strongly agree
3 2.51 - 3.25 Agree
2 1.76 – 2.50 Disagree
1 1.00 – 1.75 Strongly disagree
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CHAPTER IV
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION
This chapter presents the data analysis and interpretation of the findings and

discusses the results of the study on personal hygiene and sanitary practices of

households in Lucky Homes Subdivision, Sabang Lipa City. The goals of this study is

first, to determine the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of sex, highest

educational attainment, age, household position and number of household members,

second, to assess the personal hygiene performed among households in terms of hand

hygiene, oral hygiene and body hygiene, third, to assess the sanitary practices performed

among households in terms of food sanitation, house disinfection and solid waste

management, fourth, to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing personal hygiene and

sanitary practices among houses regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and lastly, to

provide a list of course of action to maintain proper hygiene and sanitation practices at

home.

1. Demographic Profile of the Respondents

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The demographic information of the respondents is considered first in the study.

Each 60 respondents indicated the needed information. This section will deal with the

profile of respondents.

1.1 Sex

Sex is categorized into either male or female. This will be use for the purpose of

checking the gender distribution of the respondents thus, checking it against those

who are mostly associated with personal hygiene and sanitary practices. Table 1

shows the frequency distribution of the respondents in terms of sex.

Sex Frequency Percentage

Male 24 40
Female 36 60
Total 60 100
Table 1
Profile of Respondents in Terms of Sex

As shown in above Table 1, large number of female respondents from Barangay

Sabang, Lucky Homes Subdivision dominated the study of about 36 or 60%. On the other

hand, there were only 24 or 40% male respondents. This was due to the fact that majority

of the respondents at that day upon conducting the questionnaire were female while male

respondents were working. Moreover, on the study conducted by Odonkor et. al (2019),

observed females had a significantly good practice of personal hygiene and sanitary

practices as compared to males. It is of a general knowledge that females are more

hygiene conscious than males.

1.2 Highest Educational Attainment

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In this study the highest education attainment refers to the highest level of

education that the respondent has successfully completed.

Level of education Frequency Percentage

Elementary 9 15
High school 17 28
Graduated college 34 57
Total 60 100
Table 2
Profile of the Respondents in Terms of Highest Educational Attainment

The highest educational attainment by the respondents spread throughout with

college degree holders dominating the sample 34 (57%). It was followed by high school

degree holder with 17(28%) and lastly by elementary graduate with 9(15%) respondents.

In contrast to the findings in the study of Odonkor et. al (2019) where lack of education

(63.1%) was observed as the main barrier to personal hygiene among the respondents.

Lack of education about hygiene appears key in predicting poor hygiene practices,

similarly to inadequate water supply, and sheer laziness to comply with the tenets of

hygiene as well as excuses for lack of time or the want of time.

1.3 Age

Age of every respondent can also one of the greatest predictor in assessing

the practices to personal hygiene and sanitation. The age of respondents ranges

from 10-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-30, 31-35, 36-40, 41-45, 46-50. 51-55 and 56-60

years old. This data is presented in Table 3.

Age Frequency Percentage

56-60 2 3
51-55 3 5
46-50 4 7
41-45 5 8
36-40 6 10
31-35 3 5
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26-30 19 32
21-25 8 13
16-20 6 10
10-15 4 7
Total 60 100
Table 3
Profile of the Respondents in Terms of Age
 

Based on the above Table 3, most of the age of respondents range from 26-30

years old with 19(32%). It was followed by age range of 21-25 with 8(13%) respondents,

both 16-20 and 36-40 age range with 6(10%) respondents. On the otherhand, age range

from 56-60(3%) got the lowest number of respondents with 2(3%) from a total of 60

respondents. According to Kumar and Akoijam (2017), personal hygiene among the

youth is essential as it forms part of their developmental stages and contributes to the

general well-being and health of the individual. During the adolescence stage, self-care

activities become more important as the body begins to mature and physiologic changes

start to occur (Anderson 2019). In the study of Odonkor et. al (2019), most of the

respondents were within the ages of 19-24 years. Out of a total of 412 respondents 246

were in this age group with 87 below 18 and 79 above 25 years. The majority of the

respondents have therefore just been over the adolescent stage. It is expected that this

majority group are well-educated, and are able to apply the principle of personal hygiene

at the university and specially at home.

1.4 Household Position

In this study, household position refers to what role does the respondents are in

the family, either mother, father, daughter or son that can give reliable information or

answers to the questions. The data gathered is presented in Table 4.

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Household Position Frequency Percentage

Father 10 17
Mother 19 32
Son 14 23
Daughter 17 28
Total 60 100
Table 4
Profile of the Respondents in Terms of Household Position

Presented in Table 4 are the respondents’ household position. Most of the

respondents’ household position is mother with a frequency of 19(32%), while the

number of father respondents got the lowest frequency of 10(17%) out of 60 respondents.

The result of this study is supported by the study of Saied-Moallemi, Murtomaa,

Tehranchi & Virtanen (2007). According to the researchers, parents play a central role in

giving children the information and encouragement needed for healthy lifestyles. Parents'

attitudes have a significant positive influence on the children's oral hygiene and oral

health. Within the family, the role of mother has been emphasized in relation to a child's

oral health habits and status. Despite changing roles and areas of responsibility within the

family in the child's health-related lifestyle, the mother still seems to play the key role.

Additionally, based on the study of Sarkar (2013) on the personal hygiene among

primary school in India, future of a society depends considerably on the health of its

children. The parents together with an assistance of the school teachers and other family

members are the constructive shapers of children's health behaviors and should play a

responsible role in early education of children on personal hygiene. Even, children can

also be the agents of change subsequently by spreading what they had learned from

school to their family and community members.

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1.5 Number of Household Members

In this study, number of household members refers to the number of

people living together in one house collectively.

Number of Household Frequency Percentage

Members
1-5 36 60
6-10 19 32
11-15 5 8
Total 60 100
Table 5
Profile of the Respondents in Terms of Number of Household Members

Based on Table 5, most of the respondents’ number of family member ranges from 1-

5 with 36(60%). It was followed by number of household members of 6-10 with a

frequency of 19(32%). Lastly, the family with 11-15 number of members got the lowest

frequency of 5(8%). When a family has many members, the likelihood of them to

prioritize personal hygiene and sanitation practices is very low.

2. Personal Hygiene Performed Among Households in terms of Hand Hygiene,

Oral Hygiene, and Body Hygiene
This study is set to determine the personal hygiene practices performed among
households of Barangay Sabang, Lucky Homes Subdivision in terms of hand hygiene,
oral hygiene, and body hygiene. There are number of items or statements that the
respondents needed to categorize or to look into. These are presented in Table 6, 7 and 8
respectively.

As part of my Hand Hygiene practices I: Weighted Mean Verbal Interpretation

1. wash my hands after using the toilet. 3.72 Strongly Agree
2. wash my hand before and after
3.70 Strongly Agree
preparing food.
3. always wash my hand with soap and
3.58 Strongly Agree
water for 20 seconds.
4. put an alcohol or sanitizer after
2.95 Agree
touching anything.
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5. follow the proper hand washing steps. 2.47 Disagree

Table 6
Personal Hygiene Practices Performed Among Households in Terms of Hand
Hygiene

Table 6 shows the results on the assessment of personal hygiene performed

among households in the residents of Lucky Homes Subdivision, Sabang, Lipa City in

terms of hand hygiene. The statements were arranged from the highest to lowest weighted

mean. It reveals in the data gathered that most of the respondents strongly agree in

washing their hands after using the toilet (weighted mean of 3.72). It was followed by the

statement of wash my hand before and after preparing food (weighted mean of 3.70),

third, the statement always washes my hand with soap and water for 20 seconds

(weighted mean of 3.58). The fourth statement “putting an alcohol or sanitizer after

touching things” only agreed by few of the respondents as shown (weighted mean of

2.95) and following the proper hand washing steps got the lowest (weighted mean of

2.47) resulting to disagree of most respondents.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization and other major

authorities recommend frequent hand washing and applying proper hand hygiene

procedures as one of the cheapest, easiest, and most important ways to prevent the spread

of a virus. According to Gł ˛abska, Skolmowska, & Guzek (2020), for the majority of

circumstances of washing hands, including those associated with meals, personal

hygiene, leaving home, socializing, health, and household chores, the share of

respondents declaring always washing their hands was significantly higher for the period

during the COVID-19 pandemic than for the period before. In addition, the study of

Mbroh L., have found that the hand hygiene practices showed that most of the
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participants wash their hands after using restrooms (Uner, Sevencan, Basaran, Balci, &

Bilaloglu, 2009) which was similar to the findings of this study.

Handwashing has received a substantial attention during the COVID‐19

pandemic. According to the study, Coronavirus subsist in the hands may be destroyed

with handwashing using soap and water, and if it’s done properly. If the hands are

virtuous, there will be a marginal chance that people can dispatch the virus to the eyes,

nose, or mouth of other people, or when they touch their faces (Rabie & Curtis, 2006).

Currently, there is a systematic review about appropriate hand washing and its risk for

respiratory infection, and it implied that hand cleaning can gash the risk of the infection

by 16%. It is therefore significant to wash the hands often in order stop the spread of

COVID-19.

In addition, it is a simple, most efficient preventive measure that most people can

do by their own. Handwashing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or the use of

alcohol‐based hand sanitizers when soap and water are not available is the first line of

defense in stopping the spread of infection (CDC 2020).

Weighted Verbal
As part of my Oral Hygiene practices I:
Mean Interpretation
1. always brush my teeth with 3.68 Strongly Agree
toothpaste.
2. changes my toothbrush every 3 to 4 3.67 Strongly Agree
months.
3. brush my teeth 3x a day. 3.45 Strongly Agree
4. use mouth wash. 2.42 Disagree
5. use dental floss to keep my in 2.38 Disagree
between teeth clean.
Table 7
Personal Hygiene Practices Performed Among Households in Terms of Oral
Hygiene
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Table 7 shows the results on assessment of personal hygiene performed among

households in the residents of Lucky Homes Subdivision, Sabang, Lipa City in terms of

oral hygiene. The statement that got the highest weighted mean of 3.68 of always

brushing teeth with toothpaste. It was supported by the study of Gopikrishna, Bhaskar,

Kulkarni, & et. Al (2016) in which the analyzed result shows that toothbrush with

toothpaste is the most common oral hygiene aid used for cleaning teeth, which was

adopted by 304 (60.9%) students.

Second highest computed weighted mean is 3.67 of the statement changes my

toothbrush every 3 to 4 months. Third, the statement brushes my teeth 3x a day has a

weighted mean of 3.45, followed by the statement using mouthwash with 2. 42 computed

weighted mean. Lastly, the statement use dental floss to keep my in between teeth clean

got the lowest computed weighted mean of 2.38.

According to Liu, Wei, Alvarez, Wang, Du, Zhu, et al. (2011), the SARS-CoV-2

virus infects human cells using the ACE2 receptors, which are widely distributed in the

upper respiratory tract (hence the lung lesions it causes in affected people) and the

epithelial cells lining the ducts of the salivary glands, these being early targets of

infection. They can also be in the mouth, mainly on the tongue, which is a great reservoir

of viral germs. Therefore, it is implied in the study of ToKK-W, Tsang OT-Y, Chik-Yan

Yip C, Chan K-H, Wu T-C, Chan JMC, et al. (2020), consistent tooth brushing,

interproximal hygiene and tongue cleaning are essential in order to reduce the viral load

in the oral area.

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Full and regular cleaning brushing, cleaning between teeth with an interdental

brush or floss and rinsing with mouthwash twice a day will keep mouth fit and healthy.

Interdental cleaning is especially important because if the in between teeth is not flossed

this means that the entire mouth is not really cleaned properly Yoko Warabi, Shinsuke

Tobisawa, Tomoya Kawazoe et. al (2020).

Moreover, in terms of using mouthwash, a study published in Journal of Medical

Virology showed that in a laboratory, different types of nasal rinses and mouthwashes

seemed to inactivate human coronaviruses. For example, a 1% baby shampoo nasal rinse

solution appeared to inactivate 99.9% of human coronaviruses after about two minutes.

Listerine and Listerine‐like products apparently could inactivate similar amounts of virus

even faster, after just 30 seconds. However other experts are skeptical about the

usefulness or relevance of these findings, as the study did not specifically test the SARS-

CoV-2 strain of coronavirus, and it did not test the usefulness of the products in people.

Weighted
As part of my Body Hygiene practices I: Verbal Interpretation
Mean
1. take a bath every day. 3.77 Strongly Agree
2. wash and scrub my body with a sponge or cloth 3.63 Strongly Agree
3. change clothes everytime I go outside
3.12 Agree
specifically in crowded places.
4. use shampoo and soap or body wash when
3.83 Strongly Agree
bathing.
5. apply lotion and use perfume. 2.93 Agree
Table 8
Personal Hygiene Practices Performed Among Households in Terms of Body

Hygiene
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Table 8 shows the result on assessment of personal hygiene performed among

households in the residents of Lucky Homes Subdivision, Sabang, Lipa City in terms of

body hygiene. The statement that got the highest result and mostly strongly agreed

(weighted mean of 3.83) of the respondents is use of shampoo and soap or body wash

when bathing while the most of the respondents agree to changing clothes at least twice a

day (weighted mean of 3.12) and applying lotion and perfume (weighted mean of 2.93) as

one of the body hygiene. In the guidelines of Austrialian Government Department of

Health states that, good personal hygiene habits include: washing the body often. If

possible, everybody should have a shower or a bath every day. If this happens, a swim or

a wash all over the body with a wet sponge or cloth will do. Washing the hair with soap

or shampoo at least once a week. Changing into clean clothes. Dirty clothes should be

washed with laundry soap before wearing them again.

Another guideline by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that,

hygiene refers to behaviors that can improve cleanliness and lead to good health, such as

frequent hand washing, face washing, and bathing with soap and water. While in the

study of Ilesanmi O. (2017), the result also showed that majority of the respondents

(98.2%) had good knowledge of personal hygiene, could accurately identify the

components and some of the harmful consequences of not engaging in sufficient personal

hygiene practices. The result also showed that majority of the respondents had good

hygienic practices including taking bath (99.6%), brushing teeth (98.2%) and washing

hands (65.9%). Similarly, the study of Mohammed Ghanim et al (2016), the average

knowledge related to basic personal hygiene recorded among girls (4.45) was

significantly higher than among boys (3.83) (p<0.005). Showering was the most
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important aspect of personal hygiene (62%) (N=265), as ranked by the students. This is in

contrast to studies from Africa and Asia where the researchers have reported bathing and

washing of hair are the least common practices of personal hygiene and the reason was

due to inadequate water availability.

3. Sanitary Practices Performed Among Households in Terms of Food

Sanitation, House Disinfection and Solid Waste Management
This study is set to determine the sanitary practices performed among households of

Barangay Sabang, Lucky Homes Subdivision in terms of food sanitation, house

disinfection and solid waste management. There are number of items or statements that

the respondents needed to categorize or to look into. These are presented in Table 9, 10

and 11 respectively.

As part of my practices in terms of food Weighted Verbal

sanitation I: Mean Interpretation
1. rinse fresh vegetables and fruits under
running water just before eating, 3.60 Strongly Agree
cutting, or cooking.
2. keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and
3.52 Strongly Agree
eggs away from other foods.
3. cook or heat the food accordingly. 3.60 Strongly Agree
4. put food in the fridge right away. 3.53 Strongly Agree
5. always keep foods at standard
temperatures (for cold foods at 45°F
2.12 Disagree
(7°C) or below and hot foods at 140 °F
(60°C) or above).
Table 9
Sanitary Practices Performed Among Households in Terms of Food Sanitation
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Table 9 shows the sanitary practices performed among households in terms of

food sanitation. Based on the table, both the statement rinse fresh vegetables and fruits

under running water just before eating, cutting, or cooking and cook or heat the food

accordingly got the highest computed weighted mean of 3.60. It is followed by putting

the food in the fridge right away, keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs away from

other foods with computed weighted mean of 3.53, 3.52 respectively. Lastly, the

statement of always keep foods at standard temperatures (for cold foods at 40 °F or below

and hot foods at 140 °F or above) got the lowest computed weighted mean of 2.12.

In accordance with the Chapter III- Food Establishment of the Code on Sanitation

of the Philippines (PD 856), Section 16, entitled "Quality and Protection of Food",

discusses food requirements obtained from sources approved by the local health

authority. First, all meats and fish shall be properly cooked before serving. Second, all

perishable and potentially hazardous foods shall be stored at 45°F (7°C) or below. Third

is that cooked food intended to be served hot shall be kept at a temperature not lower than

140°F (60°C). Lastly, raw fruits and vegetables shall be thoroughly washed before they

are used. This requirement supported the statements under food sanitation.

As part of my practices in in terms of my Weighted Verbal

house disinfection I: Mean Interpretation
1. clean surfaces using rug, soap and Strongly Agree
3.78
water.
2. practice routine cleaning of the Strongly Agree
frequently touched surfaces such as
3.55
light switches, handles, desks,
doorknobs and sinks.
3. apply or spray disinfectant on surfaces Disagree
2.25
after cleaning.
4. sweeping and/or mopping the floor Strongly Agree
regularly. 3.52
5. wear reusable or disposable gloves for 3.07 Agree
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routine cleaning and disinfection.

Table 10
Sanitary Practices Performed Among Households in Terms of House
Disinfection

Presented in above Table 10 are the sanitary practices performed among households

in terms of house disinfection. The statement clean surfaces using rug, soap and water got

the highest computed mean of 3.78. Based on the Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting

Public Spaces, Workplaces, Businesses, Schools, and Homes, routine cleaning and

disinfecting are an important part of reducing the risk of exposure to COVID-19. Normal

routine cleaning with soap and water alone can reduce risk of exposure and is a necessary

step before disinfecting dirty surfaces.

It was followed by practice routine cleaning of the frequently touched surfaces such

as light switches, handles, desks, doorknobs and sinks and sweeping and/or mopping the

floor regularly with computed weighted mean of 3.55 and 3.52 respectively. Based on the

general recommendation for routine cleaning and disinfection of households by National

Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) Division of Viral Diseases

(2020), community members can practice routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces

(for example: tables, doorknobs, light switches, handles, desks, toilets, faucets, sinks, and

electronics with household cleaners that are appropriate for the surface, following label

instructions.

The statement: wear reusable or disposable gloves for routine cleaning and

disinfection has a computed weighted mean of 3.07. Lastly, apply or spray disinfectant on

surfaces after cleaning got the lowest computed weighted mean of 2.25. Based on the

COVID-19 Guidelines for Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection of University of

Maryland (2020), for disinfection, disposable gloves and eye protection should be worn
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when disinfecting large surface areas. Spraying of disinfectants should be avoided if

possible and should only be done with appropriate ventilation, eye protection and gloves.

Moreover, wiping surfaces with a disinfectant (Environmental Protection Agency EPA

registered disinfectants) soaked cloth or towel is the most effective and safest method.

Everyone must follow the manufacturer’s instructions for safe and effective use of all

cleaning and disinfection products. If disinfectants are not available, an alcohol solution

with at least 70% alcohol or a 10% diluted bleach solution is also effective.

As part of my practices in terms of solid Weighted Verbal

waste management I: Mean Interpretation
1. segregate my wastes properly from
3.55 Strongly Agree
biodegradable and non-biodegradable.
2. our barangay have separate hauler for
biomedical wastes ex. facemasks, PPEs, 2.12 Disagree
face shields.
3. disposed hazardous wastes such as
batteries, medical syringes, unused 3.60 Strongly Agree
medicine bottles properly.
4. have separate trash bins for our
biomedical wastes such as for 2.20 Disagree
facemasks, PPEs, used tissues, etc.
5. limit myself in using disposable
facemask, instead I used cloth/washable 3.18 Agree
face masks.
Table 11
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Sanitary Practices Performed Among Households in Terms of Solid Waste

Management

Presented in Table 10 are the sanitary practices performed among households in

terms of solid waste management. The statement: disposed hazardous wastes such as

batteries, medical syringes, unused medicine bottles properly got the highest computed

weighted mean of 3.60 with an interpretation of strongly agree. The Sphere standards

state that people should be able to live in an environment that is uncontaminated by solid

wastes, including medical wastes and have the means to dispose of their domestic waste

conveniently and efficiently. Researcher suggests that in the early stages of emergency,

provide communal storage bins. As the situation stabilizes, the number of bins can be

gradually increased to the density there was before the disaster. Immediately after the

disaster, a 100-liter container will serve 200 people. (WHO, 2013).

It was followed by segregate my wastes properly from biodegradable and non-

biodegradable and limit myself in using disposable facemask, instead I used

cloth/washable face masks with a computed weighted mean of 3.55 and 3.18

respectively. According to the World Health Organization, non-medical, fabric masks can

be used by the general public under the age of 60 and who do not have underlying health

conditions. Fabric masks should be made of three layers of fabric: inner layer of

absorbent material, such as cotton, middle layer of non-woven non-absorbent material,

such as polypropylene and outer layer of non-absorbent material, such as polyester or

polyester blend. If purchasing a fabric mask from a store, it is important to check it to

make sure it meets national performance standards.

On the otherhand, the statement: our barangay has separate hauler for biomedical

wastes ex. facemasks, PPEs, face shields and have separate trash bins for our biomedical
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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wastes such as for facemasks, PPEs, used tissues, etc. got the lowest computed weighted

mean 2.12 and 2.20 respectively with an interpretation of disagree. Based on the study

conducted by Nzediegwu & Chang (2020), currently, millions of contaminated face

masks, gloves, PPEs and materials for diagnosing, detecting and treating SARS-CoV-2

and other human pathogens are undergoing the irreversible process of becoming

infectious waste. This, in turn, will cause environmental and health problems if they are

improperly stored, transported and handled. Moreover, due to the increased healthcare

waste owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the threat that unsafe disposal of medical waste

will spill over into environmental pollution is palpable and immediate (Singh, Tang,

Zhang, &Zheng (2020). A recent study Kampf et al. found that human coronaviruses can

remain active on inanimate hard surfaces (such as metal, glass or plastic) for up to nine

days.

In addition, according to the study of Ma, Lin, Wu, Huang, Li, & Yan (2020)

found out that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the disposal capacity of medical waste is

seriously insufficient. This is because the use of protective masks has greatly increased

the possibility of carrying pathogens. Therefore, some medical waste buckets with

obvious mark points are placed in the public areas of hospitals and communities to collect

abandoned masks. According to UNEP (2020), they should be pack in double-layered

medical waste bags and treated as general medical waste by specific personnel, municipal

solid waste workers and the company’s special waste management department.

4. Effectiveness of Implementing Personal Hygiene and Sanitary Practices Among

Houses Regarding the Covid-19 Pandemic

Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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The purpose of the study is to assess the personal hygiene and sanitary practices

in the new normal among houses at Lucky Homes Subdivision, Sabang, Lipa City.

Moreover, the researchers are also to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing personal

hygiene and sanitary practices among houses regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

PERCENTAGE

PERCENTAGE

PERCENTAGE
MAYBE
The effectiveness of implementing personal

YES

NO
hygiene and sanitary practices among our
houses includes:

1. removing germs, bacteria, and viruses. 60 100 0 0 0 0

2. helps keep our body clean and healthy. 60 100 0 0 0 0
3. lower the risk to diseases, illnesses, and
other medical conditions. 55 91.67 0 0 5 8.33
4. enable to ensure the safety of the
family in the risk COVID-19 60 100 0 0 0 0
5. living in more clean and safe
surroundings during the new normal 48 80 0 0 12 20
Table 12
Effectiveness of Implementing Personal Hygiene and Sanitary Practices
The Table 12 above shows the effectiveness of the personal hygiene and sanitary

practices in the area of Lucky Homes Subdivision Lipa City where out of 60 or 100% of

the respondents respond to yes to the removing of germ, bacteria, and viruses and 60 or

100 % was also recorded to yes in the effectiveness of personal hygiene and sanitary

practices helps keep the body clean and healthy. Furthermore, 55 or 91.67% said yes and

5 or 8.33% said maybe to the lower the risk to diseases, illnesses, and other medical

conditions. 60 or 100% of the respondents responds to enable to ensure the safety of the

family in the risk COVID-19 while on living in more clean and safe surroundings during

the new normal, 48 or 80% respond to yes and 12 or 20% of the respondents respond to

maybe.
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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Majority of the respondents in the study had agreed that the effectiveness of the

personal hygiene and sanitation practices would result to first is the removal germs,

bacteria, viruses. Second is that it helps keep our body clean and healthy, and lastly is

that it enables to ensure the safety of the family in the risk COVID-19.

According to Dr. S.S. Apate et.al (2019) personal health and hygiene is very

dependent on the adequate availability of drinking water and proper sanitation. This

makes that a direct connection between water, sanitation, and health. Consumption of

unsafe drinking water, improper disposal of human excreta, improper environmental

sanitation and lack of personal and food hygiene have been the major cause of the

diseases that was normally seen in the developing countries. Sanitation is one of the most

common cause of the condition of life and human development. Good sanitary practices

can avoid many diseases and helps to not contaminate the water and soil if the proper

standards were used and practiced. The concept of sanitation was, therefore, expanded to

include personal hygiene, home sanitation, safe water, garbage disposal, excreta disposal

and wastewater disposal.

The personal hygiene and sanitation practices was evaluated in the houses of

Lucky Homes Subdivision. The study reveals base on the data that the households are

following some personal hygiene in terms of hand, oral and body hygiene, and sanitation

practices in terms of food sanitation, house disinfection and solid waste management. The

scores of data gathered revealed that personal hygiene and sanitation practices was

effective in the area of Lucky Homes Subdivision Sabang, Lipa City.

5. Course of Action to Maintain Proper Hygiene and Sanitation Practices at Home.

Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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Based on the results of the study, the researchers conceptualized a course of

action plan presented in Table 13 to maintain proper hygiene and sanitary practices at

home during the new normal.

ACTION PLAN RESPONSIBLE

PERSON
Must practice handwashing
at the right time, using the
right technique/steps to Households
prevent germs from
spreading.

Hand hygiene Provide a place at home

where everyone can wash
their hands to promote Households
frequent and thorough
handwashing. If soap and
running water are not
available, provide alcohol-
based hand rubs containing
at least 70% alcohol (IATF
Resolution No.12, 2020).
More than just brushing the
teeth, it is recommended to
floss once a day as it may
reduce the potential effects Households
of plague and bacteria in
between teeth where the
toothbrush can’t reach.
Oral hygiene
Use preoperative
antimicrobial mouth rinses
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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to reduce the number of

microorganisms in the oral Households
cavity and kill the virus in
the saliva. Mouth washing
should be done twice a day
after brushing the teeth.

Shower and change clothes

and shoes immediately
when you return home
from work or after being in Households
crowded places. Make sure
you’re clean before
Body hygiene interacting with the family.

Consider the practice of

washing the clothes you
wear outside separately in Households
warm water by using
normal disinfectant.
Monitor the temperature of
foods you are going to
consume. All perishable
foods should be stored at Households
45 degrees Celsius or
Food Sanitation below while hot food shall
be kept at 140 degree
Fahrenheit and above.

Follow the 5 key to safer

food introduced by WHO
which are: (1) keep clean, Households
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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(2) separate raw and

cooked, (3) cook
thoroughly, (4) keep food
at safe temperatures and (5)
use safe water and raw
materials.
Follow the six steps for
safe and effective
disinfectant use which are:
(1) check that your product
is EPA-approved, (2) read Households
the directions, (3) pre-clean
the surface, (4) follow the
contact time, (5) wear
House Disinfection gloves and wash your
hands and (6) lock it up
(WHO, 2020).

Encourage the households

to join online webinars and Households
tutorials regarding ways on
hoe to disinfect house parts
and surfaces.
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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Solid Waste Management In order to lessen the

amount of hazardous
waste, it is suggested for
the residents to use
reusable or washable
facemask and faceshields Households
that will last long.

Buy bigger sizes of

sanitizing products such as
alcohol and disinfectants.
Barangay Officials
Providing separate trash
bins at home designated for
used face masks, gloves,
face shield, disinfecting
wipes, PPE’s and cleaning
and sanitizing products.
Make sure you’re placing
items in a garbage bag that
can be sealed and labeled it
properly.

The barangay should have

separate collection for trash
containing sanitizing
products or PPE’s to avoid
mixing it with the
recyclables and regular
trash. The collection of
such wastes should be done
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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every week.

It is also advisable for the

barangay to have different
schedule for the collection
and disposal of hazardous
wastes. The collectors is
also advisable to wear
gloves and facemasks.

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter will provide the summary, conclusion, recommendation for the further

study. There have been interesting findings concerning the personal hygiene and

sanitation practices including suggestions.

Summary

The study is to assess the personal hygiene and sanitary practices in the new

normal among houses at Lucky Homes Subdivision, Sabang, Lipa City. Specifically, the

study aims:

1. To determine the demographic profile of respondents in Lucky Homes Subdivision,

Sabang Lipa City in terms of:

1.1 sex;

1.2 highest educational attainment,

1.3 age;
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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1.4 household position; and

1.5 number of household members

2. To assess the personal hygiene performed among households in terms of:

2.1 hand hygiene;

2.2 oral hygiene; and

2.3 body hygiene

3. To assess the sanitary practices performed among households in terms of:

3.1 food sanitation;

3.2 house disinfection; and

3.3 solid waste management

4. To evaluate the effectiveness of implementing personal hygiene and sanitary practices

among houses regarding the COVID-19 pandemic; and

5. To provide a course of action to maintain proper hygiene and sanitation practices at

home.

The study adopted descriptive research design to establish the personal hygiene and

sanitary practices in the new normal among houses at Lucky Homes Subdivision, Sabang,

Lipa City. Validated questionnaire was the instrument used in the study. The data was

collected from 60 respondents computed through the use of Slovin’s Formula with

5%margin of error from the 70-overall households. The qualitative data was analyzed

with descriptive type analysis. Responses were group into common themes and analyzed

as a guided by the research objectives. Frequency and percentage were used to determine

the distribution of the respondents according to their profile. Weighted mean was used to

determine the personal hygiene performed among households in terms of hand hygiene,
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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oral hygiene and body hygiene, and the sanitary practices performed among households

in terms of food sanitation, house disinfection and solid waste management.

Findings

From the objectives of the study, the following findings were determined by the

researchers:

1. There were a total of 36 or 60% of female respondents from Barangay Sabang,

Lucky Homes Subdivision, Lipa City dominated the study. On the other hand,

there were only 24 or 40% male respondents. The highest educational attainment

by the respondents spread throughout with college degree holders dominating the

sample 34 (57%). The respondents were from the age range of 26-30 years old

with 19(32%). However, slightly of them indicated that they were in the age range

of 56-60(3%). Most of the respondents’ household position is mother with a

frequency of 19(32%), while the number of father respondents got the lowest

frequency of 10(17%). Most of the respondents’ number of family member ranges

from 1-5 with 36(60%), while the family with 11-15 number of members got the

lowest frequency of 5(8%).

2. As observed on the result of hand hygiene during the new normal, shows that

hand washing after using toilet got the highest weighted mean with 3.72 than

washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds which got a weighted mean of

3. 58. Also most respondents disagree on following the proper hand washing steps

which got a weighted mean of 2.47.

For oral hygiene practices, it is observed that brushing teeth with

toothpaste got the highest weighted mean of 3.68 as the most practiced oral
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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hygiene at home followed by changing of tooth brush every 3 to 4 months while

brushing their teeth 3x a day got only a weighted mean of 3.45. While use of

mouthwash got weighted mean of 2.42 and use dental floss to keep my in between

teeth clean got the lowest weighted mean of 2.38.

Lastly for the body hygiene, the statement that got the highest weighted

mean of 3.83 is use shampoo and soap or body wash when bathing followed by

taking a bath every day with a weighted mean of 3.77. While the statement

changes of clothes at least twice a day got a weighted mean of 3.12 and the

statement that got the lowest weighted mean of 2.93 is apply lotion and use

perfume.

3. As observed in the result in the sanitary practices performed among households in

terms of food sanitation, both the statement rinse fresh vegetables and fruits under

running water just before eating, cutting, or cooking and cook or heat the food

accordingly got the highest computed weighted mean of 3.60 with a verbal

interpretation of strongly agree. It is followed by putting the food in the fridge

right away, keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs away from other foods with

computed weighted mean of 3.53, 3.52 respectively. Lastly, the statement of

always keep foods at standard temperatures (for cold foods at 40 °F or below and

hot foods at 140 °F or above) got the lowest computed weighted mean of 2.12

with a verbal interpretation of disagree.

Moreover, the result in the sanitary practices performed among households

in terms of house disinfection shows that the statement clean surfaces using rug,

soap and water got the highest computed mean of 3.78. It was followed by
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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practice routine cleaning of the frequently touched surfaces such as light switches,

handles, desks, doorknobs and sinks and sweeping and/or mopping the floor

regularly with computed weighted mean of 3.55 and 3.52 respectively. The

statement: wear reusable or disposable gloves for routine cleaning and

disinfection has a computed weighted mean of 3.07. Lastly, apply or spray

disinfectant on surfaces after cleaning got the lowest computed weighted mean of

2.25.

In terms of sanitary practices performed among households in terms of

solid waste management. The statement: disposed hazardous wastes such as

batteries, medical syringes, unused medicine bottles properly got the highest

computed weighted mean of 3.60. It was followed by segregate my wastes

properly from biodegradable and non-biodegradable and limit myself in using

disposable facemask, instead I used cloth/washable face masks with a computed

weighted mean of 3.55 and 3.18 respectively. On the otherhand, the statement:

have separate trash bins for our biomedical wastes such as for facemasks, PPEs,

used tissues, etc. has a computed weighted mean and 2.20. Lastly, the statement

our barangay has separate hauler for biomedical wastes ex. facemasks, PPEs, face

shields has the lowest computed weighted mean of 2.12.

4. 60 or 100% of the respondents respond to yes to the removing of germ, bacteria,

and viruses and 60 or 100 % was also recorded to yes in the effectiveness of

personal hygiene and sanitary practices helps keep the body clean and healthy.

Furthermore, 55 or 91.67% said yes and 5 or 8.33% said maybe to the lower the

risk to diseases, illnesses, and other medical conditions. 60 or 100% of the

Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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respondents responds to enable to ensure the safety of the family in the risk

COVID-19 while on living in more clean and safe surroundings during the new

normal, 48 or 80% respond to yes and 12 or 20% of the respondents respond to

maybe.

5. After careful analysis of the findings, the study arrived at various

recommendations such as following the guidelines set by the World Health

Organization (WHO) regarding handwashing techniques, the 5 Key to Safer food

and the 6 steps for safe and effective disinfectant use. Moreover, it is also

suggested the used of dental floss and mouthwash aside from merely brushing

with toothbrush, changing clothes when arriving home. Finally, it is highly

recommended to have a separate trash bins for sanitizing products as well as

separate collection of those wastes which can be accomplished with the help of

their barangay.

Conclusions

After gathering and analyzing all the data needed, the researchers found out that

the personal hygiene and sanitation practices performed by members of Barangay

Sabang, Lucky Homes Subdivision, Lipa City in the new normal was effective. This

proves that when everyone practices proper personal hygiene and sanitation practices

among households, they can avoid the threat of COVID-19 virus.

1. After analyzing the composition of the household-respondents, the researchers

conclude that majority of the respondents were female, that were a college degree holder

and of age ranges from 26-30 years old while their household position is mother from a

family that has 1-5 members.

Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
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2. The respondents strongly agree that washing hands after using the toilet, before and

after preparing foods and using soap and water are the most effective practice in terms of

hand hygiene; brushing teeth with toothpaste 3x a day and changing toothbrush every 3 to

4 months in terms of oral hygiene; using shampoo or body wash when bathing, bathing

every day and scrubbing body using sponge or cloth in terms of body hygiene. This

means that households of Lucky Homes Subdivision are well-aware and had good

knowledge of doing sufficient hygienic practices that can be consider as the most

efficient preventive measure against COVID-19. Thus, the researchers conclude that

household members really know the hygienic practices to be done to protect them from

getting sick.

3. The respondents strongly agree that rinsing fresh vegetables and fruits under running

water, keeping raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs away from other foods, cooking or

heating the food accordingly and putting food in the fridge right away are effective ways

in terms of food sanitation; cleaning surfaces using rug, soap and water, and sweeping

and/or mopping the floor regularly in terms of house disinfection; segregating wastes

properly from biodegradable and non-biodegradable and disposing hazardous wastes

such as batteries, medical syringes, unused medicine bottles properly in terms of solid

waste management. This means that the respondents are conducting effective sanitary

practices regularly as an important part of reducing the risk of exposure to COVID-19.

Thus, the researchers conclude that household members performed sufficient sanitary

practices in order to maintain cleanliness and orderliness of their environment.

4. After evaluating the effectiveness of implementing personal hygiene and sanitary

practices among houses regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers conclude
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
Candor, J.M., Faderagao, A.K., Mendoza, E.M., Ramos, P.J. (2020) Literature and Studies

that households performing hygienic and sanitary practices at home results in maintaining

zero case of COVID-19 in Sabang, Lucky Homes Subdivision as of December, 2020.

5. The researchers proposed plan of action to improve the hygienic and sanitary practices

of households in Brgy. Sabang, Lucky Homes Subdivision, Lipa City.

Recommendations

Based on the findings and conclusions presented, the researchers suggested the

following recommendations:

1. Practice handwashing at the right time, using the right technique/steps to prevent

germs from spreading as well as providing a place at home where everyone can wash

their hands to promote frequent and thorough handwashing. If soap and running water are

not available, provide alcohol-based hand rubs containing at least 70% alcohol (IATF

Resolution No.12, 2020).

2. The researchers added that more than just brushing the teeth, it is recommended to

floss once a day as it may reduce the potential effects of plague and bacteria in between

teeth where the toothbrush can’t reach. In addition, using preoperative antimicrobial

mouth rinses to reduce the number of microorganisms in the oral cavity and kill the virus

in the saliva. Mouth washing should be done twice a day after brushing the teeth.

3. Shower and change clothes and shoes immediately when you return home from work

or after being in crowded places. Make sure you’re clean before interacting with the

family. Consider the practice of washing the clothes you wear outside separately in warm

water by using normal disinfectant.

4. Monitoring the temperature of foods, you are going to consume. All perishable foods

should be stored at 45 degrees Celsius or below while hot food shall be kept at 140-
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
Candor, J.M., Faderagao, A.K., Mendoza, E.M., Ramos, P.J. (2020) Literature and Studies

degree Fahrenheit and above. Aside from it, following the 5 keys to safer food introduced

by WHO which are: (1) keep clean, (2) separate raw and cooked, (3) cook thoroughly, (4)

keep food at safe temperatures and (5) use safe water and raw materials is a must.

5. Following the six steps for safe and effective disinfectant use which are: (1) check that

your product is EPA-approved, (2) read the directions, (3) pre-clean the surface, (4)

follow the contact time, (5) wear gloves and wash your hands and (6) lock it up (WHO,

2020). Additionally, encouraging the households to join online webinars and tutorials

regarding ways on hoe to disinfect house parts and surfaces.

6. Providing separate trash bins at home designated for used face masks, gloves, face

shield, disinfecting wipes, PPE’s and cleaning and sanitizing products. Make sure you’re

placing items in a garbage bag that can be sealed. The barangay should have separate

collection for trash containing sanitizing products or PPE’s to avoid mixing it with the

recyclables and regular trash. The collection of such wastes should be done every week.

The continuous spread of COVID-19 around the world results in promoting the

importance of cleanliness and sanitation to humans and environment. After thorough

analysis of the conclusion, the study arrived at various recommendations such as

following the guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding

handwashing techniques, the 5 Key to Safer food and the 6 steps for safe and effective

disinfectant use. Moreover, it is also suggested the used of dental floss and mouthwash

aside from merely brushing with toothbrush, changing clothes when arriving home.

Finally, it is highly recommended to have a separate trash bins for sanitizing products as
Assessment on the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Practices… Chapter II: Review of Related
Candor, J.M., Faderagao, A.K., Mendoza, E.M., Ramos, P.J. (2020) Literature and Studies

well as separate collection of those wastes which can be accomplished with the help of

their barangay.