Self-Care Practices for Prevention of Typhoid among Patients Aged 18 to 65 Years at Parirenyatwa Hospital, Zimbabwe: Cross Sectional Survey

Abstract

Typhoid is a round year problem in Zimbabwe and has remained a burden to the country with prevalence of 77% typhoid cases recorded in March 2017. The major causes of typhoid are unsafe water supply, defective sewage system and unhygienic food handling practice. The aim of this study was to determine self-care practices for the prevention of typhoid among patients and relatives between the ages of 18 years to 65 years attending Parirenyatwa Out Patients Department for health services. According to (Parirenyatwa Statistics for the year 2018, of the 85% diarrheal cases, 65% were typhoid cases. Materials and Methods: A descriptive crosssectional study design was employed and convenient sampling was utilised to select a sample of 30 participants who met the inclusion criteria. Data was collected using structured questionnaires with closed ended questions regarding self- care practices for prevention of typhoid in daily activities. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 to calculate frequencies, percentages, means and modes. Results: The highest score obtained on self-care practices was 22 (78.6%) and the lowest score was 14 (50%). Out of the 30 participants, 4 (13.3%) had low self-care prevention practices, 20 (66.7%) moderately performed self-care practices and 6 (20%) highly performed self-care practices for prevention of typhoid. Recommendations and Conclusion: The study concluded that moderate self-care practices were being utilised for prevention of typhoid and there is still need to encourage people on safe water consumption and proper hand hygiene so as to achieve highest self-care practices for prevention of typhoid.