Objective To study the preventive measures against foodborne diseases and to evaluate their effects.
Methods Three hundred families among 5 streethood of Hongkou District, half from higher socio-economic stratum and half from lower socio-economic stratum, were randomly enrolled as study subjects, with 150 families as intervention group and the other 150 families as control group. The intervention group received comprehensive preventive measures for one year, including health educational materials, lectures, field consultation, etc., but none for the control group. Knowledge on foodborne disease prevention, hygienic practice of food preparation, B. coli in swab samples taken from cookware and dishware, and the incidence of foodborne diseases in the last year were checked to evaluate the effects of intervention.
Results After intervention, in the intervention group, the accuracy rate of food health knowledge increased from 73.66% to 84.51% (χ2=97.902, P < 0.01), the accuracy rate of hygienic behavior from 76.42% to 88.55% (χ2=139.902, P < 0.01), and the qualified rate of utensil sanitation from 76.51% to 90.71% (χ2=40.647, P < 0.01); the incidence of diarrhea decreased from 40.60% to 11.45% (χ2=101.78, P < 0.01). All of the four abovementioned indices were significantly different between the intervention group and the control group (χ2=34.694, P < 0.01; χ2=72.783, P < 0.01; χ2=12.038, P < 0.01; χ2=46.974, P < 0.01).
Conclusion Implementation of the preventive measures, through health education and health promotion, can remarkably prevent and control foodborne diseases among residents.
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