Evaluating the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Healthcare Workers Regarding High-risk Nosocomial Infections: A Global Cross-sectional Study

Overview

Journal Health Sci Rep

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2023 Sep 13

PMID 37701355

Authors

Elham M Khatrawi

Priyadarshi Prajjwal

Muhammad Farhan

Pugazhendi Inban

Shraddha Gurha

Saud M S Al-Ezzi

Mohammed D M Marsool

Prerna Ahuja

Mohammed A Mateen

Felix O Aina

Omniat A Hussin

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) play a vital role in delivering care and are frequently exposed to the risk of acquiring infections within the hospital setting. Around 15% of hospitalized patients suffer from these infections globally. However, the role and awareness of HCWs in the transmission of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) or nosocomial infections is still unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) toward high-risk microbial infections among HCWs on a global scale to identify measures to address this problem.

Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between 2022 and 2023, with HCWs selected as the study population. Data concerning KAP were collected through a self-administered online survey questionnaire, using a nonprobability convenience sampling method. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyze the data.

Results: A total of 743 HCWs from various countries participated in the study, with the majority of respondents being doctors (64.9%). Data were mainly obtained from Saudi Arabia (26.78%), Iraq (25.84%), India (15.7%), the United States of America (15.2%), and Africa (Sudan, Nigeria) (13.98%). The frequency of good KAP scores among physicians (KAP: 82.5, 80.66, and 70.5), nurses (KAP: 74.1, 73.07, and 88.7), medical practitioners (KAP: 87.2, 77.58, and 75.1), and technicians (KAP: 76.1, 74.38, and 89.6) were obtained as mentioned. With respect to experience, HCWs showed good KAP scores in 1-5 years (KAP: 82.4, 83.3, and 74.1), 5-10 years (KAP: 80.6, 74.54, 83), 10-20 years (KAP: 74.7, 79.1, and 82.7), and >20 years (KAP: 84.6, 78.8, and 82.8) categories.

Conclusion: This study suggests that HCWs have good KAP regarding infection prevention, but there is still room for improvement. Educational seminars and awareness programs can provide better adherence to barrier protection measures such as hand washing, use of gloves, and hand disinfection.

Citing Articles

Knowledge and perception of nosocomial infections among patients in a Nigerian hospital.

Oni O, Orok E, Lawal Z, Ojo T, Oluwadare T, Bamitale T Sci Rep. 2023; 13(1):20204.

PMID: 37980389 PMC: 10657427. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47661-0.

Evaluating the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers regarding high-risk nosocomial infections: A global cross-sectional study.

Khatrawi E, Prajjwal P, Farhan M, Inban P, Gurha S, Al-Ezzi S Health Sci Rep. 2023; 6(9):e1559.

PMID: 37701355 PMC: 10494663. DOI: 10.1002/hsr2.1559.

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