Knowledge, attitudes and management practices for disposable baby diapers among caretakers in urban slums of Nansana Municipality, Wakiso District

Abstract

The use of disposable baby diapers to manage children’s feces is becoming a common practice in Uganda, especially in urban settings. Despite the convenience that these diapers provide to children, their increased use poses management challenges that have both direct and indirect health and environmental implications. There is limited information available about child caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding management of disposable baby diapers. The purpose of this study was to assess caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the management of used disposable baby diapers in the urban slums of Nansana Municipality in order to generate information that can be used to develop targeted interventions to improve management of used disposable baby diapers. The study applied a cross-sectional design to collect data from 230 caregivers in Nansana Municipality, Wakiso District. Pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data on caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes and management practices regarding used disposable baby diapers. Key informant interviews were also used to collect qualitative data on the management of disposable baby diapers. Quantitative data was collected using mobile data collection software (Kobo Collect) and analyzed using STATA V14.1 software. Manual thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The majority of the participants (97.8%; 227/230) were females with a mean age of 25.8±5.7 years. Most participants (75.2%; 173/230) were aware that proper disposal of used diapers was their responsibility, while slightly more than half (55.2%; 127/230) strongly believed that every mother or child care giver in Nansana municipality should be well versed in used diaper disposal. Participants used 3±0.6 diapers a day on average and stopped using them on children when they are 2.7±o.9 years old. Most respondents (90.9%; 209/230) used disposable diapers and kept them for an average of 11±15.3 days before final disposal. Polythene bags were the most commonly used containers by participants to store used diapers prior to disposal accounting for 83.2% (144/173) of those who stored used diapers. More than half of the respondents (65.2%; 150/230) disposed of used diapers alongside other household garbage. Large proportion of participants had fairly high knowledge on management of used diapers. Most participants saw improper disposal of used diapers as a threat to their lives and their communities. However, eight out of ten respondents disposed of used diapers inappropriately. Therefore, sensitization interventions are necessary to address the gaps highlighted in the study.