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Background: Most childhood diarrheal illnesses are a result of the faeco-oral transmission of infected food, water, and unclean fingers. The present paper was conducted to estimate the prevalence of hygienic disposal of stools (HDS) and its associated factors, and further quantify the impact of HDS on diarrheal diseases among children under two years., Methods: A cross-sectional design was used to evaluate three rounds of the Ghana Demographic Health Survey (GDHS) from 2003-2014 involving 4869 women with children aged under two years. The outcomes were prevalence of HDS and diarrheal diseases. Poisson regression model was employed to assess risk factors associated with HDS and dominance analysis was used to rank the important risk factors. Inverse Probability Weighting Poisson Regression Adjustment (IPWPRA) with Propensity Score 1:1 density kernel-based matching was employed to assess impact., Results: The pooled prevalence rate of HDS was 26.5%(95%CI = 24.6-28.4) and it ranged from 18.7% (95%CI = 16.4-21.2) in 2014 to 38.8%(95%CI = 35.3-42.4) in 2003. Diarrhea diseases pooled prevalence was 17.9%(95%CI = 16.4-19.5) and ranged from 13.3%(95%CI = 11.1-15.9) in 2014 to 25.4%(95%CI = 22.2-28.9) in 2003. The overall growth rate for HDS and prevalence of diarrhea diseases, decreased by 21.6% and 11.4% respectively. The most important risk factors of HDS from dominance analysis included; age of the child, wealth index, and differences in region. From pooled data wealth index, increasing age of the child, and regional disparity constituted approximately 72% of the overall impact (Weighted Standardized Dominance Statistics (WSDS) = 0.30, 0.24, and 0.19 respectively). In 2014, they constituted approximately 79% (WSDS = 0.139, 0.177 and 0.471 respectively). The average prevalence of diarrheal diseases among children of women who practiced HDS reduced over the period of the GDHS compared to those whose mothers did not practice HDS [2008 ATE(95%CI) = -0.09(-0.16-0.02), 2014 ATE(95%CI) = -0.05(-0.09-0.01) and Pooled data ATE(95%CI) = -0.05(-0.09-0.02)]., Conclusion: This analysis has provided empirical evidence of the impact of practicing HDS in Ghana from a national household survey. Implementation of the WASH agenda in this low-income setting requires a synergy of interventions and collaborations of actors (government, private and development partners) to improve water and sanitation facilities and to increase hygiene education to prevent the spread of diseases including diarrhea by 2025., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: The use of unsafe materials to collect menstrual blood predisposes women and girls to infections. There is a paucity of literature on the utilization of reusable menstrual materials in sub-Saharan Africa. This study examined factors associated with the use of reusable menstrual management materials among women of reproductive age in Ghana. Findings from this study can inform menstrual health programmes and reproductive health policy to address menstrual hygiene and specific areas of emphasis., Methods: We analysed secondary data from the 2017/18 Ghana Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. Descriptive statistics were employed to compute frequencies and percentages, while Chi-square and complex sample Binomial Logistic Regression was conducted to identify factors associated with the use of reusable menstrual materials., Results: Half (52%) of the respondents were below 30 years old; mean (± sd) = 30.7(9.0). Thirteen percent used reusable materials to collect menstrual blood during their last period. Women aged 45-49 years (AOR = 5.34; 95% CI 3.47-8.19) were 5 times more likely to manage menstruation with reusable materials compared with those aged 15-19 years (p < 0.05). Women classified in the middle wealth quintile (AOR = 0.66; 95% CI 0.50-0.88) were 34% less likely to use reusable materials to collect menstrual blood compared with women in the poorest wealth quintile (p < 0.05). Also, women who were exposed to television (AOR = 0.78; 95% CI 0.61-0.99) had less odds of using reusable materials compared with women who were not exposed to television (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: This study showed that the use of reusable menstrual materials was influenced by socio-demographic factors, economic factors and exposure to mass media. Therefore, policies and programmes aimed at promoting menstrual health should focus on less privileged women. The mass media presents an opportunity for communicating menstrual hygiene., (© 2022. The Author(s).)