Assessment of the relationship between bacteriological quality of dug-wells, hygiene behaviour and well characteristics in two cholera endemic localities in Douala, Cameroon

Table 5 Relationship between well characteristics and fecal coliform counts of samples

Characteristic	Category	Mean counts (CFU/ml)	SE Mean	St Dev	Range (CFU/ml)	Correlation coefficient (P value)
Condition of well aperture	Covered	1.15 × 10³	132	1883	0-9.0 × 10³
Condition of well aperture	Not covered	1.18 × 10³	110	1722	0-9.0 × 10³
Height of well casing above the ground (m)	0.00	1.01 × 10³	332	1726	2.0- 7.0 × 10³	+0.036 (0.260)
	0.1-0.59	1.13 × 10³	126	1807	0-9.0 × 10³	+0.036 (0.260)
	≥0.60	1.23 × 10³	122	1797	0-9.0 × 10³
Distance between well and sanitary structure (m)	1.0-10.00	1.27 × 10³	103	1851	0-9.0 × 10³	+0.131 (0.000)
	10.1-15.00	9.41 × 10²	159	1649	0- 9.0 × 10³	+0.131 (0.000)
	≥15.00	7.18 × 10²	346	1468	0-5.5 × 10³
State of well	New	1.30 × 10³	383	1990	0-8.0 × 10³
	Fairly old	8.53 × 10²	132	1539	0-9.0 × 10³
	Old	1.30 × 10³	111	1880	0-9.0 × 10³
Presence of molded casing	No	1.06 × 10³	190	1805	0-9.0 × 10³
	Yes	1.19 × 10³	95	1800	0-9.0 × 10³

Well aperture (χ² = 4.202, df = 1, P = 0.040). Well height: FCC (χ² =3.727, df = 2, P = 0.155).
Distance well-pit latrine (χ² = 0.794, df = 1, P = 0.672). State of well (χ² = 1.193, df = 2, P = 0.551). Well casing (χ² = 0.925, df = 1, P = 0.336).

ISSN: 1471-2458