Federal Department of Livestock and Pest Control Services, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Abuja, Nigeria.
PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e56091. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056091. Epub 2013 Feb 11.
Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) is still a serious public health threat in developing countries. The aim of this study is to determine the social and cognitive factors predicting one of the risk behaviours amongst meat handlers in Nigeria, namely, eating Fuku Elegusi. This is the practice of eating the visibly infected parts of the lung in-order to convince customers to buy meat. The study is guided by the health belief model (HBM).
This is a cross-sectional study of 349 randomly selected meat handlers in Oko-Oba Abattoir, in Lagos State. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis were employed to determine perceptions and prevalence of risk behaviours and to identify predictors of eating Fuku Elegusi.
Just over a quarter (28.1%) of the study participants knew that eating Fuku Elegusi could be a source of bTB in humans. The prevalence of eating Fuku Elegusi was found to be 22%. Across all knowledge indicators related to bTB, those who don't eat Fuku Elegusi exhibited better knowledge. Strong predictors of eating Fuku Elegusi were: being male (OR: 2.39, 95% CI: 1.10 to 5.19; p = 0.03), not knowing that eating Fuku Elegusi exposes to bTB (OR: 3.72, 95% CI: 1.69 to 8.22; p = 0.001), and the perception that one cannot sell meat without tasting it (perceived barrier) (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.13 to 1.60; p = 0.001). Lower risk of eating Fuku Elegusi was predicted by perceived susceptibility to bTB due to another risk behaviour, namely, not washing hands after handling meat (OR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.64 to 0.96; p-value = 0.021). Television and radio were the most acceptable media for TB prevention messages (78.5% and 75.6% respectively).
Meat handlers in developing countries bear high risk to bTB owing to prevailing social and cognition determinants. Findings were largely consistent with the propositions of HBM.
牛结核病（bTB）在发展中国家仍然是一个严重的公共卫生威胁。本研究旨在确定尼日利亚肉类加工人员的一种风险行为的社会和认知因素，即食用 Fuku Elegusi。这种做法是为了让顾客购买肉类而食用明显感染的肺部可见部分。本研究以健康信念模型（HBM）为指导。
这是对拉各斯州奥科奥拉巴屠宰场的 349 名随机选择的肉类加工人员进行的横断面研究。采用描述性统计和多因素逻辑回归分析来确定风险行为的认知和流行率，并确定食用 Fuku Elegusi 的预测因素。
超过四分之一（28.1%）的研究参与者知道食用 Fuku Elegusi 可能是人类 bTB 的来源。发现食用 Fuku Elegusi 的患病率为 22%。在与 bTB 相关的所有知识指标中，那些不食用 Fuku Elegusi 的人表现出更好的知识。食用 Fuku Elegusi 的强烈预测因素包括：男性（OR：2.39，95%CI：1.10 至 5.19；p=0.03）、不知道食用 Fuku Elegusi 会暴露于 bTB（OR：3.72，95%CI：1.69 至 8.22；p=0.001）以及认为不品尝就无法出售肉类的看法（感知障碍）（OR：1.35，95%CI：1.13 至 1.60；p=0.001）。由于另一种风险行为，即处理肉后不洗手，食用 Fuku Elegusi 的风险较低（OR：0.78，95%CI：0.64 至 0.96；p 值=0.021）。电视和广播是结核病预防信息最受欢迎的媒体（分别为 78.5%和 75.6%）。
发展中国家的肉类加工人员由于普遍存在的社会和认知决定因素而面临 bTB 的高风险。研究结果在很大程度上与 HBM 的假设一致。
