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Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about the health hazards of biomass smoke exposure amongst commercial food vendors in Nigeria

Nwankwo, Ogonna N. O., Mokogwu, Ndubuisi, Agboghoroma, Orighomisan, Ahmed, Fahmi O. and Mortimer, Kevin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8118-8871 (2018) 'Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about the health hazards of biomass smoke exposure amongst commercial food vendors in Nigeria'. PLoS ONE, Vol 13, Issue 1, e0191458.

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Abstract

Background
Exposure to biomass smoke is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Africa. Commercial food vendors in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa are commonly exposed to biomass smoke from open fire cooking both at work and home. Little is known about the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of food vendors about the health hazards of biomass smoke exposure in Nigeria.

Methods
We did a descriptive cross sectional survey of the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of commercial food vendors in the cities of Benin and Calabar in Nigeria. We recruited respondents using a multi-stage approach. Structured interviewer-administered questionnaires were used for data collection.

Results
We recruited 308 participants (164, 53.2% female). The majority 185(60.2%) were married and had post-primary education 206(67.4%). The average monthly income was <30,000 Naira (US$150). Most 198(64.4%) were not aware that biomass smoke exposure is harmful to human health. About three-quarters (221; 71.8%) were unconcerned as to the effect of exposure to fumes from biomass fuels on their health. Less than half of respondents (110, 41.6%) believed biomass smoke was harmful to health. Male gender, being single, having post-primary education and preferring electricity or gas fuels were associated with good knowledge of the adverse health effects of biomass smoke exposure whilst female gender and having good knowledge of the adverse health effects of biomass smoke were associated with positive attitudes towards preventing exposure.

Conclusion
Commercial food vendors in our study had limited knowledge about the adverse health effects of biomass smoke exposure and negative attitudes towards preventing these adverse health effects. We suggest an educational intervention is needed to improve this knowledge.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: WA Public Health > WA 4 Works on general hygiene
WA Public Health > Sanitation. Environmental Control > General Sanitation and Environmental Control > WA 670 General works
WA Public Health > Air pollution > WA 750 Air sanitation and hygiene
WA Public Health > Housing. Buildings. Public Facilities > WA 799 Public buildings
Faculty: Department: Clinical Sciences & International Health > Clinical Sciences Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191458
SWORD Depositor: JISC Pubrouter
Depositing User: JISC Pubrouter
Date Deposited: 30 Jan 2018 15:53
Last Modified: 12 Sep 2019 13:07
URI: https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/8166

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