Infection prevention and control programs in Armenian Psychoneurological Hospitals

Abstract

Aim of the study: to characterize the integration and implementation of the main components of infection prevention and control (IPC), defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), in psychoneurological hospitals in Armenia. Materials and methods. The study was conducted over the period from 2019 to 2022 in all 8 psychoneurological hospitals in Armenia. The research tool was based on using the IPCAF (Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Framework) questionnaire translated into Armenian, consisting of 8 sections. In accordance with the WHO scoring methodology, each possible answer to the question was scored. The maximum total score for each core component could be 100 points, and the final score — 800. Descriptive epidemiology was used during the study. Results. The average final score for all IPCAF components for all neuropsychiatric hospitals in Armenia over the entire study period was increased by 1.46 times (from 345.0±10.7 points in 2019 to 502.5±32.5 in 2022; р 0.01) and in 2022 was characterized as an “intermediate level”. Analysis by individual IPC core components (CC) found that the highest average scores in 2022 were obtained for components CC2 (IPC guidelines) — 81.6 points, CC8 (Built environment, materials and equipment for IPC at the facility level) — 72.8 points, and CC5 (Multimodal strategies) — 70.0 points. The lowest average scores were obtained for the key components: CC4 (Health care-associated infection (HAI) surveillance) — 45.0 points, and for CC3 (IPC education and training) — 56.3 points and CC7 (Workload, staffing and bed occupancy) — 56.9 points. Conclusion. Our study demonstrated for the first time an opportunity for using the IPCAF questionnaire to evaluate IPC programs in neuropsychiatric hospitals and identify gaps in various areas of IPC. Information was received regarding the state of key IPC component implementation in psychoneurological hospitals in Armenia. Analysis by individual core components identified gaps that need to be addressed. It is recommended to implement continuous monitoring of compliance with various aspects of IPC in order to prevent weakening of control and deterioration of epidemiological situation.