Health problems associated with market women in closed and open space market areas

Abstract

Purpose: The study compared some chosen health problems traders who work in open market areas go through, to that of those who trade in enclosed market areas.
Design/Methodology/Approach: A descriptive design was used by the researchers to arrive at good results. Data used for this study were collected  by personal interviews with 400 market traders who traded in all sorts of items out of which 200 were from enclosed market areas, and the other 200 were from open market areas. The data were taken from two main market places, Abura and Kotokoraba, all in Cape Coast, Ghana. The data were analysed using the chi-square test for independence, paired sample t-test, and a test concerning two proportions to draw a
vivid inference on the health status of the traders.
Findings: Results from the analysis revealed that in general the three most pronounced health problems that are confronting most of the traders  are body pains, followed by headaches and stress. However, all categories of traders (that is, traders who sell in open market areas, and those who sell in enclosed market areas) are equally exposed to health hazards. The results revealed that a trader’s experience of any health problem depends  on his or her place of trading. Whether he or she sells in an open market area or an enclosed area, each market area type has some particular health effect on the trader. Traders who do their businesses in enclosed market areas experience headaches and stress more often than their  counterparts in open market areas. On the other hand, traders who are in open market areas experience body pains, joint pains, sleepless nights  and nausea more often than those who trade in enclosed market areas.
Research Limitation/Implication: Symptoms of some diseases other than those caused by exposure to the hazards in the market places, may be  responsible for the health problems faced by the traders. However, this is expected to have little influence on the results, since it is a comparative analysis and these symptoms may be present in both categories of traders.
Practical Implication: Public health education on the consequences of exposing oneself to any health hazards in the course of going about with his or her business should continually be given to market women.
Originality/value: The study adds knowledge to Public Health problems in the world and serves as the basis for more advanced work on human  exposure to environmental hazards.