Analisis Kebiasaan Buang Air Besar Sembarangan pada Keluarga di Wilayah Kerja Puskesmas Terjun Kecamatan Medan Marelan Tahun 2025

Abstract

Open defecation remains one of the most significant environmental health problems in the working area of the Terjun Community Health Center in Medan Marelan District. This practice can pollute the environment and increase the risk of waterborne disease transmission. This study aims to analyze the knowledge, attitudes, and toilet facilities of housewives in the working area of the Terjun Community Health Center in Medan Marelan District. This study is a descriptive study with a population of 78 families from 3 working areas of the Terjun Community Health Center and a sample of 44 housewives selected using simple random sampling from families who still practice open defecation. Data were collected using knowledge and attitude questionnaires and healthy toilet condition observation sheets. The results showed that 56.8% of housewives were in late adulthood, had a junior high school education (36.4%), and had an income below the Medan City minimum wage, ranging from IDR 5,000,000 to IDR 3,000,000 per month. A total of 50% of housewives had 4-5 family members. The level of knowledge among housewives was still lacking (52.3%). The attitudes of housewives also showed negative results (72.7%). The observation results showed that 41 households (93.3%) used unhealthy toilets. In addition, 33 households (75.0%) do not have access to proper clean water facilities, most of them live on riverbanks so that feces are disposed of directly into the river without a septic tank. The conclusion of this study shows that low knowledge, attitudes, and sanitation facility conditions are influenced by education, economy, and unsuitable living locations such as riverbanks. Efforts to improve environmental health education and provide sanitation facilities are important steps, accompanied by area planning through the relocation of residents to apartment buildings equipped with sanitation and clean water facilities, in order to support a healthy environment free from open defecation practices.