An assessment of household hazards in South Western Nigeria

  INTRODUCTION: Unintentional home injuries in developing countries  cause serious public health burdens but are still largely under-represented.As yet, a causal link between the presence of household hazards and injuries has not been established. This study aimed to compare the proportion of households with identified hazards in rural and urban areas of south western Nigeria

METHODS: A cross sectional survey of 1015 households was conducted with home safety inspection using a predetermined rating format. A safety checklist which assessed general safety measures and hazards was used to determine the presence of household harzards in seven domains.

  RESULTS: Rural households constituted 50.6% and urban 49.4% of all households. The mean number of household members was 4.4±1.6; mean number of rooms inhabited by each household was 2.3 ±1.5 rooms. One or more hazards were identified in 99.5% of all households and 61.5% of household had hazards in more than half of all hazard domains inspected. Hazards were mostly in the stairways 78.9% ,kitchen 65.1%; with the least in living/bed rooms 15.4%. General safety measures were present in 9.4% and fire safety measures in 36.2% of households. Rural households (P=0.017) and households in the lowest quintile of wealth index (P<0.001) were significantly more likely to have hazards. Type of dwelling and number of individuals per household were not significantly associated with household hazards (P> 0.05).

  CONCLUSION : Many people are living in potentially hazardous homes in Nigeria.  More definitive work in this area needs to be carried out to aid policies that improve housing and thus reduce hone hazards in the region.