Global Health Engineering (GHE), Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT), ETH Zurich, Clausiusstrasse 37, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
Centre for Water, Sanitation, Health and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), Private Bag 303, Chichiri, Blantyre 3, Malawi.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 25;19(17):10589. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191710589.
Mental disorders have the potential to affect an individual's capacity to perform household daily activities such as water, sanitation, and hygiene (food hygiene inclusive) that require effort, time, and strong internal motivation. However, there is limited detailed assessment about the influence of mental health on food hygiene behaviors at household level. We conducted a follow-up study to detect the effects of mental health on food hygiene behaviors after food hygiene intervention delivery to child caregivers in rural Malawi. Face-to-face interviews, based on the Risk, Attitude, Norms, Ability, and Self-regulations (RANAS) model, were conducted with 819 participants (control and intervention group) to assess their handwashing and food hygiene-related behaviors. Mental health was assessed using the validated Self-Reporting Questionnaire. Study results showed a significant negative relationship between mental health and handwashing with soap behavior ( = -0.135) and keeping utensils in an elevated place ( = -0.093). Further, a significant difference was found between people with good versus poor mental health on handwashing with soap behavior ( = 0.050) among the intervention group. The results showed that the influence of the intervention on handwashing with soap behavior was mediated by mental health. Thus, integration of mental health in food hygiene interventions can result in improved outcomes for caregivers with poor mental health.
精神障碍有可能影响个人进行家务日常活动的能力，例如需要付出努力、时间和强烈内在动机的水、环境卫生和个人卫生（包括食品卫生）。然而，对于心理健康对家庭层面食品卫生行为的影响，目前详细评估的资料有限。我们开展了一项随访研究，以检测在向马拉维农村地区儿童照顾者提供食品卫生干预措施后，心理健康对食品卫生行为的影响。我们对 819 名参与者（对照组和干预组）进行了基于风险、态度、规范、能力和自我调节（RANAS）模型的面对面访谈，以评估他们的洗手和与食品卫生相关的行为。使用经过验证的自我报告问卷评估心理健康。研究结果表明，心理健康与用肥皂洗手行为（ = -0.135）和将餐具放在高处（ = -0.093）呈显著负相关。此外，在干预组中，心理健康状况良好的人与心理健康状况较差的人之间在用肥皂洗手行为方面存在显著差异（ = 0.050）。结果表明，干预对用肥皂洗手行为的影响是由心理健康介导的。因此，将心理健康纳入食品卫生干预措施可以改善心理健康状况较差的照顾者的结果。
