Owing to the fact that perceptions of mothers on the hygiene factors affecting diarrhea occurrence contribute to their level of hygiene practice which may affect the incidence of diarrhea within the families, there arises the need to analyze the perception of mothers on these hygiene factors in Enugu State. The methodology adopted for the study was longitudinal survey design. Schedules were used to collect data on diarrhea among children 0-5 years from seven District Hospitals representing District Health Boards from 2007 to 2016 while questionnaire was used to collect data in respect of perceptions of mothers on hygiene factors. A total of 1110 questionnaire were administered and 1106 collected. Analysis of variance ANOVA was conducted and the study found that the perceptions of mothers on hygiene factors affecting diarrhea occurrence differ very significantly amongst the study locations (p = 0.000). Furthermore, using multiple comparison tests to detect and rank the mothers perception in the different study locations, Enugu District Health Board has the highest perception, followed by Agbani and Udi District Health Boards. Nsukka, Awgu, Isi-Uzo and Enugu-Ezike District Health Boards have very low perceptions. Nsukka and Awgu recorded the highest cases of diarrhea within the period under study. It is recommended that mothers in the area should be educated to maintain high level of personal hygiene of themselves and their children especially areas with very low perceptions. Further study of stools of these children to identify the pathogens responsible for the diarrhea is required
Keywords: Hygiene, Mothers Perception, diarrhea
