scholarly journals The Sanitary Condition of Food Establishments and Health Status and Personal Hygiene among Food Handlers in a Rural Area of Western Maharashtra, India

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayant D Deshpande ◽  
Deepak B Phalke

Background: Foodborne disease occurs in mass catering establishment that is not complying with sanitary and hygienic food handling and preparation. Objective: Objective of the present study was to explore the status of sanitary condition of food establishments and to assess hygienic practices among food handlers. Material and Method: A cross-sectional study design was used to assess the sanitary condition of food establishments and personal hygiene of food handlers. Data was collected with the help of structured and pre-tested questionnaires. The questionnaire also allowed the interviewers to record their observations. All the data obtained was entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using the software StatistiXL version 1.8. Result: Separate kitchen and Onsite solid waste storage containers/receptacles were available in 4(16%) establishments. Provision for heating devices for cooked food was available in 5(20%) establishments. Wash basin present with soap were available in 10 (40%) of the food establishments. Sweeping and washing floor with water and disinfectant was done in 8(32%) food establishments. Male and female food handlers’ have equal percentage of morbidity and this difference was not statistically significant (χ2=0.0329, p=0.84), but anaemia was significantly higher among female food handlers (χ2=6.30, p=0.01). Poor hygienic practices were significantly associated with presence of infectious diseases like ARI, diarrhoea, dysentery and skin infections. (χ2=5.71, p=0.017). Conclusion: Food establishments in the study area were found to have poor sanitation and were not maintained well. The health status and the level of personal hygiene of the food handlers in the eating establishments were found to be unsatisfactory. There is need of enforcement of sanitary provisions and educating the food handlers about personal hygiene.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v4i2.7895 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences 4(2013) 23-29

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajiv Ranjan Karn ◽  
Buna Bhandari ◽  
Nilambar Jha

Background: Inadequate sanitation has direct effect on health of individual, family, communities and nation as a whole. Objective: To assess the personal hygiene and sanitary condition of the Katahari Village Development Committee (VDC). Methods: The cross sectional study was done in Katahari VDC of Morang district. A total of 80 households were randomly selected from two wards of VDC. The data were collected by interview method using interview schedule. Data were entered in Excel sheet and analyzed on SPSS program. Results: Many respondents (61%) were unable to read and write, 33% involved in private job in various factory. Knowledge of sanitation was high (90%) but only 65% of them were using soap water for hand washing. Sixty percent had no toilet facilities. There was significant association between education and toilet facilities among community people. Land holding and type of family had no significant association with toilet facilities. Conclusion: The knowledge regarding sanitation was high among community people but very poor in practice.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jonmc.v1i2.7298 Journal of Nobel Medical College (2012), Vol.1 No.2 p.39-44


Author(s):  
A. H. M. Shamim Al Mamun ◽  
Kamrul Hsan ◽  
Md. Shanjid Sarwar ◽  
Md. Ruhul Furkan Siddique

Background: Millions of people are suffering from food borne illness and it has become a growing public health concern in the world. To reduce the burden of food borne illness, food handlers must have accurate knowledge of food safety. The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge and level of personal hygiene practice among food handlers of Jahangirnagar University.Methods: It was a descriptive cross sectional study, done among the food handlers in Jahangirngar University Campus, Dhaka, Bangladesh from May 2016 to September 2016. Data were collected from 119 food handlers by using face to face interview using a pre-tested questionnaire. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 22.0) software was used for data analysis.Results: Study found that 65.55% of the food handlers did not have adequate knowledge regarding personal hygiene. The study also found that 71.4% of the food handlers had poor hygiene practice. The study revealed that age, education and sleeping place and knowledge regarding personal hygiene were significantly associated with the respondent’s personal hygiene practice.Conclusions: The study shows that knowledge and its practice among the food handlers is very poor. Implementation of training and awareness program on personal hygiene are required to improve their knowledge and personal hygiene practice.


Author(s):  
Nitesh Mangal ◽  
Dilip Kumar L. ◽  
K. A. Varghese ◽  
Meet Chauhan

Background: The level of personal hygiene has a strong bearing on preventive capacity for many diseases and hence the assessment of its level assumes great significance. The school being a strong base for hygienic practices, the present study aimed to assess the level of personal hygiene and its associated factors as well as its effect on morbidity level of school children in a rural belt of southern Rajasthan.Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted among 250 students studying in classes VIII to XII in 3 different schools of southern Rajasthan from November 2018 to February 2019.The data was obtained by interview method using pretested questionnaire which included socio-demographic factors, the hygienic practices and occurrence of diseases as dichotomous questions. The association of the attributes was tested through Chi-square test, correlation and regression techniques.Results: Only 22% students scored above 75% and were categorized as good practioners of personal hygiene. The age of students, parents literacy, and household income were significantly associated with personal hygiene. The common morbidities like head lice and dental caries were found gender sensitive in the study area. The negative association between disease score and personal hygiene score implied that the disease burden of children can be minimized with higher personal hygiene practices.Conclusions: Systematic efforts to sensitize school children and parents about importance of personal hygiene, improvement in parental literacy coupled with economic empowerment of rural families can help to enhance the status of personal hygiene of students and thereby drastic reduction in their disease burden.


2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (3) ◽  
pp. 518-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussein F. Hassan ◽  
Hani Dimassi ◽  
Zeina Nakat Karam

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess level of food safety knowledge and self-reported practices among Lebanese food handlers in Lebanese households and to identify the association between knowledge/practices and socio-demographic characteristics. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,500 participants from different gender, age, area of residence, income, marital status and education. They completed a questionnaire of six questions about demographics, and 26 questions related to knowledge and self-reported practices in terms of food handling, storage, usage of kitchen facilities and personal hygiene subgroups. SPSS v23 was used for statistical analyses. Student t-test and analysis of variance were conducted. Significance level of 0.05 was used. Findings On average, participants scored 55.6±16.3, 51.3±25.7, 67.4±19.3 and 89.1±16.3 on food handling, storage, usage of kitchen facilities and personal hygiene, respectively, whereas the passing (score above 50 percent) rates were 64.5, 69.9, 90.5 and 99.1, respectively, for the different subgroups. Gender had significant (p<0.05) effect on food handling and personal hygiene; age, marital status and education had significant (p<0.05) effect on handling, usage of kitchen facilities and personal hygiene; area of residence had significant (p<0.05) effect on storage, handling and usage of kitchen facilities; income had significant (p<0.05) effect on handling and usage of kitchen facilities. Overall mean food safety knowledge and self-reported practices score was 63.8±12.6; passing rate was 86.2; gender, age, area of residence, education, marital status and income had significant (p<0.05) effect. Food safety self-reported practices and knowledge scores were significantly (p<0.001) related to a weak to moderate correlation coefficient (R=0.34). Practical implications The results confirm the need for ongoing educational initiatives to improve the relatively low food safety knowledge and practices among the Lebanese food handlers in Lebanese households. Originality/value No study has determined the food safety knowledge and self-reported practices of Lebanese food handlers in Lebanese households before.


2021 ◽  
Vol In Press (In Press) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Khammarnia ◽  
Hesam Ghiasvand ◽  
Fateme Javadi ◽  
Fatemeh Safdari Adimi

Background: Equity in the distribution of equipment and resources in the health sector constitutes one of the main dimensions of justice, improving health status and increasing people's satisfaction. Objectives: The current study aimed at determining how health resources and equipment are distributed in the poorest region of Iran. Methods: The current retrospective, cross-sectional study was performed in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, as the poorest region of Iran, in 2020. Data were collected using a standard checklist from all five health centers affiliated to Zahedan University of Medical Sciences (ZAUMS). Excel and STATA software was used for data analysis; the Gini index was also calculated. Results: The Gini index for the distribution of midwives and rural health workers was equitable (0.216 and 0.287, respectively). The distribution of urban healthcare providers, nutrition and psychology counselors, and active beds in ZAUMS were 0.675, 0.545, 0.454, and 0.526, respectively. The distribution of general practitioners, based on the Gini index (0.492), was not fair. Also, the distribution of specialists and nurses was unfair (Gini index: 0.494 and 589, respectively). Conclusions: The distribution of most resources in the poorest region of Iran was not fair. Unfair distribution and disparities can affect population health status in the future. Then, it is suggested that health policymakers and managers pay more attention to deprived regions.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0245465
Author(s):  
Antonija Poplas Susič ◽  
Zalika Klemenc-Ketiš ◽  
Rok Blagus ◽  
Nina Ružić Gorenjec

Background Independence in daily activities is defined as the ability to perform functions related to daily living, i.e. the capacity of living independently in the community with little or no help from others. Objective We focused on non-attenders as a subgroup of patients whose health status is not well known to family practice teams. Our goal was to estimate the prevalence of dependence and its severity level in the daily activities of patients, and to determine the factors that are associated with the occurrence of dependence. Design Cross-sectional observational study. Settings and participants Data was obtained in family medicine settings. Participants in the study were adults living in the community (aged 18 or over) who had not visited their chosen family physician in the last 5 years (non-attenders) and who were able to participate in the study. Through the electronic system, we identified 2,025 non-attenders. Community nurses collected data in the participants’ homes. The outcome measure was dependence in daily activities, assessed through eight items: personal hygiene; eating and drinking; mobility; dressing and undressing; urination and defecation; continence; avoiding hazards in the environment; and communication. Results The final sample consisted of 1,999 patients (98.7% response rate). The mean age was 59.9 (range 20 to 99). Dependence in daily activities was determined in 466 or 23.3% (95% CI: [21.5, 25.2]) of the patients. Older patients (over 60 years), with at least one chronic disease, increased risk of falling, moderate feelings of loneliness and a lower self-assessment of health were statistically significantly more likely to be dependent in their daily activities, according to our multivariate model. Conclusions A considerable proportion of family practice non-attenders were found to be dependent in daily activities, though at a low level. We identified several factors associated with this dependence. This could help to identify people at risk of being dependent in daily activities in the general adult population, and enable specific interventions that would improve their health status.


Author(s):  
Mohammed Shareef P. M. ◽  
R. Prabhankumar ◽  
Manikandam M. ◽  
Anil J. Purty

Background: Food handlers play an important role in ensuring food safety throughout the chain of production, processing, storage and preparation. Mishandling and disregard of hygienic measures by food handlers may lead to food contamination and cause illness among the consumers. This study was undertaken to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice towards food-borne diseases and personal hygiene among food handlers in a tertiary care hospital and to assess their morbidity status.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the food handlers working in the food establishments within the campus of Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Puducherry. Total 51 food handlers consented and participated. Participants were explained about the purpose of study and written informed consent was obtained. Data was collected using a pre-tested pre-validated questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17.0. Institutional ethics committee approval was obtained for the study.Results: Overall the average score for knowledge, attitude and practices was good among the food handlers. There was statistically significant association between the lesser attitude & practice scores and the history of gastrointestinal morbidity among the participants. There was positive correlation between the years of work experience and the mean knowledge, attitude and practice scores.Conclusions: Although knowledge, attitude and practices of the food handlers working in the tertiary care hospital was good but periodic health education and awareness will contribute in maintaining and reinforcing the existing knowledge and practices so as to prevent any food contamination and potential outbreak of food borne illness.  


Author(s):  
Saili S. Pradhan ◽  
Jagadish A. Cacodcar ◽  
Nikhil S. Akarkar

Background: Food is an elementary requirement for human survival. Food handlers are essential components in the link between the environment of cooking food and the prepared or served food. Food handlers with poor personal hygiene employed in food establishments could be likely sources of infection. Hence this study was undertaken to evaluate the personal hygiene among various food handlers in the city of Panaji, Goa.Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out among 227 study participants in 12 food establishments registered under corporation of city Panaji for duration of 18 months (September 2015 to February 2017). Sampling was done by stratified random sampling.Results: Out of the 227 food handlers, only 65 (28.6%) of the study participants used head caps while cooking. Only 70 (30.8%) had clean nails at the time of examination. As per the scale of scoring it was observed that majority i.e. 112 (49.4%) had fair personal hygiene, 77 (33.9%) had poor personal hygiene and only 38 (16.7%) had good personal hygiene. There was significant statistical association between the personal hygiene of the study participants and the training received in food safety.Conclusions: Personal hygiene levels among the food handlers were found to be sub-standard indicating essentiality of creating awareness among the food handlers regarding importance of maintaining good personal hygiene and food hygiene.


Author(s):  
Nader Tavakoli ◽  
Mahnazalsadat Hosseini ◽  
Reza Jahangiri ◽  
Samaneh Sarkhosh ◽  
Reza Shirani ◽  
...  

Background: Admission and dispatch of patients is considered as part of the patient treatment process. The aim of this study was to investigate the status and income effects of admission and dispatch of patients in need of vascular surgery in hospitals of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2018-2019. Methods: The present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study in which a checklist was compiled and the required information about admission and dispatch of patients in Iran University of Medical Sciences was extracted from the MCMC (Medical Care Monitoring Center) system. In order to extract the income of services related to vascular surgery service from the average income of each patient file in need of this service, university hospitals were used. The sampling method was census and 14,481 patients admitted and dispatched were examined. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics using Excel software. Results: The total number of registrations for dispatch of vascular surgery service was 605, 378 of which were successful. Of these, 145 were from hospitals affiliated to private hospitals and other hospitals affiliated to other medical universities, 233 were related to vascular surgery admissions, and 227 patients were related to failure to dispatch and death. The lost income due to dispatching patients is equal to 4,875,100,680 Rials. Also, the hospitals affiliated to the university have gained income equal to 7,833,782,472 Rials by admitting and not dispatching these patients. Conclusion: The findings showed that the lost income due to dispatching patients requiring vascular surgery is 4,875,100,680 Rials. Also, the earned income resulting from the existence of medical facilities in the field of the patients’ admission to the hospitals affiliated to the university is 7,833,782,472 Rials. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 68-71
Author(s):  
Sanjeev Kumar Thakur ◽  
Nisha Ghimire ◽  
Rabin Acharya ◽  
Sanjay Singh ◽  
Afaque Anwar

Background: Ossicular erosion and disruption of ossicular chain is a frequent complication of cholesteatomatous chronic otitis media leading to hearing loss.Aims and Objectives: To find out the status of ossicles and ossicular chain in patients of choleasteatomatous chronic otitis media undergoing surgery.Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive, cross sectional study conducted among 52 patients of chronic suppurative otitis media with cholesteatoma undergoing surgery at Biratnagar Eye Hospital, Ear Department over 3 years. In each patient the condition and the integrity of ossicular chain was evaluated in order to determine the presence and site of lesion of each ossicles. The data was analysed and expressed in numbers and percentage.Results: Among 52 cases, 27(51.92%) were male and 25(48.08%) were female. The age range was 16 to 50 years. The mean age was 25.6 years. The commonest age range was of 16-20 years, 21 (40.38%). The chief complaints of the patients were ear discharge seen in 52 (100%) cases and hearing loss in 45 (86.5%) cases. Malleus was found intact in 37 (71.1%) cases and absent in 7(13.5%). Handle erosion was found in 3(5.8%) cases. Head and handle erosion was found in 5(9.6%) cases. Incus was found intact in only 6 (11.5%) cases and absent in 11 (21.2%) cases. Long and lenticular process was eroded in 35(67.3%) cases. Intact suprastructure of Stapes was found in 27(51.92%) cases. Suprastructure erosion was found in 25(48.08%) cases. Intact ossicular chain was found only in 6(11.5%) cases. M+S+ was found in 17(32.7%) cases followed by M+S- in 14(26.9%). M-S+ was found in 4(7.8%) cases. All the ossicles eroded were found in 11(21.1%) cases.Conclusion: In this study of cholesteatomatous ears, the Malleus was found to be the most resistant ossicle to erosion, whereas, Incus was found to be the most susceptible. Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.8(3) 2017 68-71


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