Factors Associated with Poor Food Hygiene Practice at the Koloboyi Small Market, in the Town of Mwene-Ditu in the DRC: Cross-Sectional Analytical Study

Introduction: Poor food hygiene is the basis of dirty hand diseases; especially in third-world countries. This problem also concerns DRC in general and the town of Mwene-Ditu in particular. Contributing to the implementation of good food hygiene practices on the market was our objective. Method: The cross-sectional analytical study within the small Koloboyi Market was carried out for a period of 9 months (January 25 - October 25, 2022), in the commune of Mwene-Ditu, province of Lomami in DR. Congo. Data collection was carried out using a semi-structured questionnaire. Statistical associations between the dependent variable and independent variables were established based on the Odds Ratio (95% CI) test. Results: During this study, 296 survey subjects were retained. After analysis, the observation is that the absence of hand washing (OR: 28.14 [8.28 - 95.58]; p = 0.00) and extreme ages including 10 to 17 years (OR 7.19 [2.24 - 23.08]; p = 0.001); 59 to 65 years old (OR 5.88 [1.44 - 23.96]; p = 0.02) as well as 65 years and over (OR 6.53 [1.38 - 30.97]; p = 0.03) are factors associated with non-practice of food hygiene. Conclusion: Building infrastructure and raising awareness about the implementation and compliance with hygiene measures among different vendors remains essential to improve the health of the population.