Abstract
This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of health care workers (HCWs) towards universal precautions (UPs) and to look into any associations between knowledge and practice. A cross-sectional study was undertaken between August and October 2012, involving 300 HCWs from four national public hospitals in Kabul, Afghanistan. A self-administered questionnaire assessing the knowledge and practice of UPs was used. Among the 300 respondents, the mean knowledge score was 5.2 with a standard deviation (SD) of 1.5. On the practice score, the mean was 8.7 (SD = 2.2). A total of 90.6% and 70.8% of HCWs believed that UPs were necessary in contact with urine/feces and tears, respectively, although UPs are not necessary in these cases. On the other hand, 57.8% reported that they always recapped the needle after giving an injection, and 31.8% did not always change gloves in between patients. There were no associations between the knowledge and self-reported practice of UPs. The HCWs in Kabul had inadequate knowledge and poor practice of UPs. Training for HCWs is needed to encourage them to adhere to practice based on improved knowledge.
Highlights
This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of health care workers (HCWs) towards universal precautions (UPs) and to look into any associations between knowledge and practice
More than 90.0% of the HCWs did not know that UPs were not necessary for contact with urine or feces, 87.2% thought gloves were necessary for all caring procedures for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients – which is notalways the case – and 73.7% of HCWs incorrectly believed that isolation was necessary for patients with blood-borne infections
Our findings demonstrated a low level of practice of UPs among HCWs in Kabul; only 19.0% of respondents reported full practice with all 11 items of UPs
Summary
This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of health care workers (HCWs) towards universal precautions (UPs) and to look into any associations between knowledge and practice. Health care workers (HCWs) are at risk of occupational hazards because they perform their clinical activities in hospitals. They are exposed to blood-borne infections from pathogens such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), and from sharps injuries and contact with deep body fluids [1,2]. A study in Sweden showed that the majority of reported cases of occupational blood exposure were among nurses [6]. Another studyshowed that nurses were the staff most frequently involved in occupationally acquired HIV infection [7]. A study assessing the frequency of body fluid exposure among midwives showed that 65.1% of them had experienced exposure to amniotic fluids or blood at least once in the past six months and that 25.0% reported five or more times that level of exposure [8]
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