Safety and Health at Work

Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (산업안전보건연구원)
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An Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Toward Standard Precautions Among Health Workers From a Hospital in Northern Cyprus

  • Abuduxike, Gulifeiya (Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Near East University) ;
  • Vaizoglu, Songul Acar (Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Near East University) ;
  • Asut, Ozen (Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Near East University) ;
  • Cali, Sanda (Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Near East University)
  • Received : 2020.04.17
  • Accepted : 2020.09.03
  • Published : 2021.03.30
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Abstract

Background: The objective was to assess the knowledge level, attitude, and practice of health care workers towards standard precautions, and to identify the related factors. Furthermore, it was attempted to identify the proportion of having the experience of needle stick injuries (NSIs) and associated factors among participants. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a teaching hospital among 233 health workers using a self-administrated questionnaire. The questionnaire included eight knowledge items, seven practice items, and five attitude items. Based on the mean score of each category, responses were grouped into "satisfactory" and "unsatisfactory". Univariate, bivariate, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done. Results: The mean age of the participants 32.95 (SD ± 9.70) and 62.2% of them were women. 57.5% of the staff had a satisfactory level of correct knowledge (>5 correct answers), 37.3% had a satisfactory positive attitude (>3 correct answers), and 30.9% had a satisfactory practice (>3 correct answers) towards standard precautions. The occupation was one of the predictors as doctors were less likely to have satisfactory knowledge and practice compared to nurses (OR = 0.269, 95% CI: 0.10-0.70 and OR = 0.248, 95% CI: 0.08-0.77, respectively). Out of 174 participants, 31.6% of them reported experiencing NSIs and support staff were 71% less likely to experience NSIs compared to nurses & paramedics. Conclusion: The findings revealed a substandard adherence of standard precautions among participants, which highlighted the necessity of the provision of a periodic, tailored training program based on the occupation and risk exposure.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The study was a part of the intern project of sixth-year medical students in the Near East University. The authors would like to thank all the intern students and study participants for their contributions to this study. We would like to thank Int. Dr. Altan Kamburca, Int. Dr. Osman Yangin, Int. Dr. Kerem Berk Toprak, Int. Dr. Ibrahim Yangin and Int. Dr. Yusuf Abodan for thier contributions during the data collection process.

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