Abstract:
Background: Globally, waste management has been a major public health problem. Public
knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP) and participation are key elements of any waste
management program. In Ethiopia, however, the level of KAP and associated factors
regarding wastewater management (WWM) at the household level are not well studied and
understood. This study was, therefore, conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, practice
and associated factors of wastewater management (WWM) among the residents in Gondar
town, Ethiopia.
Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted during March and
April, 2016. A total of 422 participants were selected using the systematic random sampling
technique. A structured questionnaire was employed to collect data which were entered and
analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20. A multivariable
binary logistic regression analysis was used to ascertain the significance of associations at
<0.05 p-value and the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI).
Results: Among 422 study participants included, 63.5%, 43.4%, and 48.6% of them had
good knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported practices regarding WWM, respectively.
Knowledge of participants was significantly associated with house rent (AOR 1.12, 95%
CI (1.22, 3.69), civil servant (AOR 5.47, 95% CI (1.87, 8.02), and positive attitudes (AOR
2.69, 95% CI (1.68, 4.30), while space availability (AOR 1.84, 95% CI (1.23, 2.75), and
good knowledge (AOR 2.46, 95% CI (1.61, 3.77) were associated factors of attitudes.
Moreover, good knowledge (AOR 1.32, 95% CI (1.87, 2.02), and positive attitudes (AOR
1.03, 95% CI (1.01, 2.34) were significantly associated factors of self-reported practices.
Conclusion: Limited knowledge, attitudes and practices were seen among study population.
A great emphasis on improvement of knowledge, attitudes and practices towards WWM is
necessary. Moreover, it would be better to qualitatively explore variables which explain the
qualitative attributes of the community, like community Attitudes and knowledge.
Keywords: awareness, attitudes, determinant, knowledge, practices, wastewater, Ethiopia
