Latrine utilization and associated factors among residents in Katanga informal settlement, Kawempe Division, Kampala District

Abstract

Introduction: Providing adequate sanitation facilities is still a major global challenge. Since 2000, 2.3 billion people still lack a basic sanitation service. Among them almost 892 million people still practiced open defecation as of 2015. This inadequate sanitation is one of the causes of diarrheal diseases worldwide. In Uganda, rural areas and informal settlements are the most affected areas. Katanga is one of the slums still grappling with this challenge. This study therefore seeks to find out the underlying factors that have hindered the use of sanitary facilities in Katanga slum so that appropriate measures are taken to solve this problem.

Objective: To determine the level of latrine utilization and associated factors among residents in Katanga informal settlement, Kampala district.

Methodology: The study was a cross sectional study carried out among 267 households in Katanga, informal settlement which were chosen using the systematic random sampling method. The study utilized quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. The collected quantitative data was entered into EpiData 3.0 software and then exported to Stata IC 12 software for analysis. All variables were analyzed using univariate analysis to determine their frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation and results were presented in form of tables and graphs. The data was further analyzed using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression to determine the effect of the various independent variables on the outcome variable. The degree of association between independent and dependent variables was assessed using odds ratio with 95% confidence interval and p-value ≤0.05. The qualitative data was analyzed using the thematic content analysis method.

Results: A total of 267 households were assessed for their latrine utilization status and the results showed that the level of latrine utilization was 90%. Marital status (APRR: 1.11; 95%CI: 1.00-1.24) and being a student (APRR: 1.11; 95%CI: 1.01-1.23) were the factors positively associated with latrine use. There were no factors negatively associated with latrine use.

Conclusion: This study showed that the latrine utilization in Katanga (90%) is high. It further revealed that occupation (student) and marital status (widow/widower) were the factors that were positively associated with latrine use.