Hygiene Behavior in Middle School Students in Ankara, Turkey

Objective: Hygiene is important as the first line of defence to mitigate the spread of pathogens in people's everyday environments. The objective of the present study was to investigate the hygiene behaviors of Turkish adolescents living in Ankara. Methods: The participants were 822 boys and 834 girls, in total 1656 Turkish adolescents aged between 12-18 years. We conducted a crosssectional study using a sociodemographic form and the Hygiene Behaviour Inventory (H123) including the questions about personal hygiene habits. Data from the study were evaluated statistically by the chi-square test. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software (version 22.0). Results: Our results showed that the frequency of washing hands on an average day was significantly higher in girls than boys (p<0.001). Besides, handwashing scores were significantly higher in girls after coming home from outside, after touching an animal and before preparing food (p <0.001). 56.5% of girls usually and 43.1% of boys occasionally washing their hands after handling raw foods and before handling cooked foods (p<0.05). Girls compared to boys tended to wash their hands for 21 seconds or more (p<0.001). We also found that 87.1% of boys and 12.9% of girls preferred to wear the same underclothes two days in a row (p<0.001). Conclusion: Girl adolescents have been found to show more rigorous behavior about hygiene compared to boys.