Determinants of safe water handling at the household level in an urban informal settlement in Kampala City, Uganda

ABSTRACT Maintaining a safe water chain is a challenge to many households (HHs) in urban informal settlements in Kasubi Parish, Kampala City, Uganda. We aimed to investigate the determinants of safe water handling among residents in Kasubi. The cross-sectional study was carried out among 426 residents in Kasubi. We collected data on participants' water handling practices, individual and technological factors. We scored eight-participant variables on water handling practices and dichotomized the total score using 80% of Bloom's criteria to determine the overall water handling practice level. We used modified Poisson regression to examine associations between HH safe water handling practice level and individual technological factors. Analysis was conducted using Stata v15. Safe water handling level was found to be low (31.5%). Determinants: Semi-detached house (adjusted Prevalence Ratio, aPR = 2.0, 95% CI 1.05–3.80, p = 0.033), round-trip time for water collection 16–40 min (aPR = 2.15, 95% CI 1.07–4.34, p = 0.032), perception that water received is unclean (aPR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.01–2.43, p = 0.046), storage container > 20 litres (aPR = 3.56, 95% CI 1.25–10.14, p = 0.018) and detached house (aPR = 0.38, 95% CI 0.18–0.82, p = 0.014). Suboptimal safe water handling levels observed among HHs in Kasubi are determined by participants' perception of water cleanliness, water source distance and housing type.