Knowledge and practice of infection control of doctors in different medical specialities of a tertiary hospital in South-South Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Hospitals in Nigeria are increasingly becoming epicentres of epidemic diseases in addition to the usual nosocomial infections. Infection control measures have been identified as capable of preventing these hospital-acquired infections, but studies indicate that the knowledge of the measures, even among doctors are poor, and practice of them is even poorer, due to a multiplicity of factors. This study examined possible differences in the knowledge and practice of the infection control measures among doctors in four different medical specialities at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, south-south Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used, with data collected using a structured questionnaire and observational checklist. The questionnaire was administered to the doctors in the clinical departments, while the checklist was used to assess the compliance of the doctors and their practice environment to the infection control guidelines. Results: The respondents had a mean age of 36.03 ± 6.81 years and 74.00% of them had a working experience of five or more years. Most of the respondents were resident doctors. The respondents had very good knowledge of the infection control measures, with a mean knowledge score of 9.19 ± 0.946. There is a statistically significant difference in the knowledge score of the different cadres of respondents (P = 0.0001), but not among those in the different clinical departments (P = 0.208). The practice of the infection control measures was poor among 92.5% of the respondents, with a mean practice score of 7.48 ± 2.599 especially among the junior doctors (P = 0.0001) and doctors with less working experience (P = 0.0001). Conclusion: The knowledge of infection control measures among the respondents is high; however, the practice is very poor. Efforts are therefore needed to encourage practice, to help reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infections.