Hygiene Behavior in Middle School Students in Ankara, Turkey

Abstract

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