Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt.
East Mediterr Health J. 2020 Apr 16;26(4):374-381. doi: 10.26719/emhj.19.047.
Foodborne diseases are of public health importance worldwide. Most of the factors related to their occurrence are the responsibility of food handlers.
This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes and self-reported practices of food handlers in Sohag Governorate about food safety and the factors affecting their knowledge, attitudes and practices.
A cross-sectional study was done from May 2016 to March 2017 with food handlers working in cafeterias, restaurants, food establishments and roadside food stands from four randomly selected districts in Sohag Governorate. A questionnaire was used to collect data on their sociodemographic characteristics - age, sex, residence (urban, rural), education (illiterate, primary, preparatory, secondary, university) and job (cook, assistant) - and food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices.
Of the 994 food handlers included in the study, 39.2% had good knowledge of food safety, 61.2% had positive attitudes and 56.3% reported good food safety practices. In univariate logistic regression, most of the variables were significantly associated with participants' knowledge. Only residence and education were significantly associated with positive attitudes. None of the variables was significantly associated with participants' practices. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, age, male sex, urban residence, higher education and working as a cook were strongly associated with good knowledge. Residence and education significantly influenced positive attitudes.
Food handlers in our sample had poor knowledge of food safety and inadequate compliance with food safety practices. Educational and training programmes should be implemented to improve their knowledge, attitudes and practices.
食源性疾病在全球范围内对公共卫生具有重要意义。发生这些疾病的大多数因素都与食品从业人员有关。
本研究旨在确定索哈杰省食品从业人员对食品安全的知识、态度和自我报告的实践情况，以及影响他们知识、态度和实践的因素。
2016 年 5 月至 2017 年 3 月，在索哈杰省四个随机选择的地区，对在自助餐厅、餐馆、食品店和路边食品摊工作的食品从业人员进行了横断面研究。使用问卷收集他们的社会人口统计学特征（年龄、性别、居住地点（城市、农村）、教育程度（文盲、小学、预科、中学、大学）和工作（厨师、助手））以及食品安全知识、态度和实践方面的数据。
在纳入研究的 994 名食品从业人员中，39.2%对食品安全有良好的认识，61.2%有积极的态度，56.3%报告了良好的食品安全实践。在单变量逻辑回归中，大多数变量与参与者的知识显著相关。只有居住地点和教育程度与积极的态度显著相关。没有一个变量与参与者的实践显著相关。在多变量逻辑回归分析中，年龄、男性、城市居住、较高的教育程度和厨师工作与良好的知识密切相关。居住地点和教育程度显著影响积极的态度。
我们样本中的食品从业人员对食品安全知识的了解不足，且食品安全实践不足。应实施教育和培训计划，以提高他们的知识、态度和实践水平。
