Hand hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices among healthcare workers in Pader town council, Pader district

Abstract

Background: Hand hygiene compliance is low mainly in developing countries like Uganda which is associated with a higher incidence of health care acquired infections. The incidences are exacerbated by other factors like lack of training of HCWs on hand hygiene, inadequate infrastructure and a lack of constant supply of logistics especially in the rural areas of the country like Pader. There are numerous factors that are associated with proper hand hygiene practices, attitudes and knowledge among health care workers but these factors are rarely studied. There is limited information on the hand hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices of health care workers in Pader TC. Study objective: The objective of the study was to determine the knowledge level, attitudes and practices of health care workers towards hand hygiene in health care facilities in Pader Town council, Pader District. Methodology: The study was carried out in Pader Town council among health care workers in private health facilities as well as government health centres. A cross-sectional study was carried out. Quantitative data was collected using questionnaires. Data was entered into EpiData, then exported into Microsoft Excel for cleaning. Analysis was done with Microsoft Excel and STATA software and data presented in tables. Results: Most of the HCWs (81.0%) had received formal training in the last three years. Three quarters of the HCWs (75%) had moderate level of hand hygiene knowledge. (50%) knew the main route of cross-transmission and (32.1%) knew the most frequent source of germs in health care settings. 48.8% and 39.3% of the HCWs had positive and moderate attitudes towards hand hygiene. Almost all the HCWs (95.2%) agreed that correct hand hygiene practice must be followed at all times. The majority of the HCWs in Pader TC had moderate practices (44.0%) and poor hand hygiene practices (29.8%). (95.2%) knew hand hygiene was essential part of their role though (71.4%) sometimes forgot to practice hand hygiene. (76.2%) always had soap and water for hand hygiene. Conclusion: Health care workers in Pader Town council had moderate hand hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices which created a gap which needs the effective collaboration of all stakeholders i.e. health care workers, health centres to adhere to the set guidelines to improve the hand hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices in the town council.