Prevalence of Foodborne Diseases and the Role of Hygiene Practices in Prevention
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Background: Foodborne illness remains an important public-health problem in settings with unsafe water, inadequate food storage, and inconsistent household hygiene. Community-level evidence from Nawabshah is limited. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of self-reported probable foodborne illness and examine its association with sociodemographic characteristics and household food-hygiene practices among urban and rural residents. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study included 420 adults selected through multistage household sampling from urban and rural Nawabshah. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire covering gastrointestinal symptoms, handwashing, drinking-water safety, separation of raw and cooked food, leftover storage, and street-food consumption. Associations were examined using chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression. Results: Probable foodborne illness was reported by 138 participants, giving a prevalence of 32.9% (95% CI, 28.5%–37.5%). Prevalence was higher among rural than urban residents (39.0% versus 26.7%; p=0.007) and decreased with increasing educational attainment (p=0.001). Poor handwashing was the strongest independently associated factor (adjusted OR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.47–3.63), followed by unsafe drinking water (adjusted OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.18–2.98), delayed refrigeration of leftovers (adjusted OR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.13–2.96), and failure to separate raw and cooked food (adjusted OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.07–2.76). Frequent street-food consumption was not significant after adjustment. Conclusion: Probable foodborne illness was common and was associated with several modifiable household water and food-hygiene practices
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