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Effect of Public Toilet Accessibility on Public Toilet Utilization among Market Traders in Nigeria

Abstract

Access to adequate sanitation facilities is an important public health concern in Nigeria, particularly in busy market environments where large numbers of traders and customers interact daily. Market traders may spend long hours at their workplaces and require convenient access to safe, clean, functional, and affordable public toilets. Inadequate availability of toilets, long distances to sanitation facilities, poor cleanliness, lack of privacy, insufficient water supply, user fees, and poorly maintained facilities may discourage toilet utilization and contribute to open defecation or other unsafe sanitation practices. Poor sanitation may increase environmental contamination and contribute to the transmission of infectious diseases, environmental pollution, unpleasant market conditions, and reduced wellbeing. Improving public toilet accessibility may therefore encourage appropriate sanitation practices among market traders. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of public toilet accessibility on public toilet utilization among market traders in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Social Ecological Model, and Theory of Planned Behavior. The Health Belief Model explains how traders' perceptions of sanitation-related health risks, perceived benefits of using public toilets, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and cues to action may influence toilet utilization. The Social Ecological Model emphasizes the influence of individual, interpersonal, market, community, environmental, infrastructural, and socioeconomic factors on sanitation behaviour. The Theory of Planned Behavior explains how traders' attitudes toward public toilet use, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and behavioural intentions may influence sanitation practices. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how public toilet accessibility may influence public toilet utilization among market traders in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative analytical cross-sectional or quasi-experimental research design. The study population will comprise adult market traders aged 18 years and above operating in selected markets across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, local government areas, markets, market sections or trader associations, and eligible traders. Public toilet accessibility will be assessed using indicators such as availability of public toilets within or near the market, distance from trading points, number of toilet facilities relative to the market population, operating hours, affordability, availability of water, availability of soap or cleansing materials, cleanliness, privacy, safety, gender-segregated facilities, accessibility for persons with disabilities, lighting, maintenance, functionality, and frequency of cleaning. Public toilet utilization will be assessed using indicators such as frequency of toilet use during working hours, use of designated public toilets rather than open areas, willingness to use available facilities, utilization at critical times, avoidance of open defecation, appropriate toilet-use practices, handwashing after toilet use, and continued use of market sanitation facilities. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized sanitation-access and utilization assessment tools, direct observation checklists, market sanitation assessments, and relevant toilet-management records where available. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize traders' demographic and occupational characteristics, sanitation experiences, toilet accessibility, environmental conditions, and toilet-utilization patterns. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of public toilet accessibility on public toilet utilization. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, toilet-utilization practices before and after improvement in public toilet accessibility may be compared with those of a comparison market to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that public toilet accessibility has a significant positive effect on public toilet utilization among market traders in Nigeria. Traders with convenient access to clean, functional, safe, affordable, and adequately supplied public toilets are expected to demonstrate higher levels of toilet utilization than traders with limited access to appropriate sanitation facilities. Improved accessibility may reduce the distance and time required to access toilets and encourage traders to use designated sanitation facilities during working hours. Availability of water, cleanliness, privacy, safety, and gender-appropriate facilities may further improve willingness to use public toilets. Increased toilet utilization may reduce open defecation and contribute to improved environmental cleanliness within market communities. However, poor maintenance, inadequate water supply, overcrowding, high user fees, unpleasant odours, lack of privacy, inadequate cleaning, insecurity, and negative perceptions of public toilets may discourage utilization even where facilities are physically available. The study therefore expects accessible, affordable, clean, functional, safe, and well-maintained public toilets, supported by appropriate hygiene education and market sanitation management, to contribute significantly to improved public toilet utilization among market traders in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on public sanitation, toilet accessibility, toilet utilization, market sanitation, environmental health, water sanitation and hygiene, open-defecation prevention, infectious disease prevention, health promotion, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Environment, state ministries of health and environment, local government authorities, market management organizations, environmental health officers, water and sanitation agencies, trader associations, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for improving sanitation in market environments. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for increasing the availability of public toilets, improving water and sanitation infrastructure, ensuring affordable and inclusive facilities, strengthening cleaning and maintenance systems, improving safety and privacy, providing accessible facilities for persons with disabilities, and developing sustainable market sanitation programmes that promote appropriate toilet utilization and environmental health across Nigeria.

Keywords: Public toilet accessibility, public toilet utilization, market traders, sanitation, market sanitation, WASH, environmental health, open defecation, hygiene practices, sanitation facilities, Nigeria, public health.