Effective Factors in Environmental Health Status of Grocery Stores

Aims of the Study: This study was carried out to determine the effective factors in environmental health status of grocery stores in the city of Qom (located in the center of Iran). Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 283 grocery stores from 3 different regions were selected randomly using stratified sampling. Data were gathered through observation, interview, and questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of two sections: section 1 dealt with some shop managers&rsquo; features including the age, educational level, job satisfaction, passing &ldquo;food and occupational hygiene training courses&rdquo;, store ownership, duration of employment, and features of stores including their location (Region) and environmental health condition. And section 2 dealt with the important aspects of regulations of Article 13. The data analyzed using statistical procedures such as Spearman Rank Correlation and Multivariate Regression Analysis. P-values less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Results: Among the investigated factors, the manager&rsquo;s educational level had a greater impact on the environmental health conditions of grocery stores. The ownership status of grocery stores, Job satisfaction and passing &ldquo;food and occupational hygiene training courses&rdquo; were next in the ranking, respectively (p <0.001 for all measures, except for shop ownership, for which p-value was <0.02). Conclusions: Planning and implementation of effective operational and strategic programs addressing the above mentioned issues seems to be necessary. Such programs will improve the health status of the stores over time.