Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) of Personal Hygiene among Food Handlers in the South Region of Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Background: Poor personal hygiene of food handlers can act as source of infection. It becomes a serious issue if the food handlers serve in a busy community like Makkah where millions of visitors gather yearly for Hajj and Umura. This study was carried out to determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of personal hygiene among food handlers in south region of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the south region of Makkah. Data was collected from 50 food handlers by questionnaires designed to elicit socio-demographic information and check-list which contained questions about KAP of food handlers. Data was recorded on Likert scale converted to 0-100 scale to simplify the presentation and interpretation of data. Results: Majority of participants (74%) was within the age range of 20-35 years and more than half of the participants (56%) were non-educated. Respondents knowledge, attitude and practice were 82 (95% CI 80-84), 66 (95% CI 61-72) and 66 (95% CI 58-73) respectively. Educational level appears to affect the attitude (p=0.001) and practice (p=0.009) of the participants. Conclusion: The study conirmed that food handlers in the south region of Makkah seems to be knowledgeable with a moderate level of attitude and practice