Abstract
Objective: The use of personal protective equipment and hand hygiene are often the most recommended line of defense against coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). The purpose of this study is to determine the magnitude of compliance and associated factors of personal protective equipment (PPE) utilization and hand hygiene practice among healthcare workers in public hospitals of South Wollo Zone, Northeastern Ethiopia.Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 489 healthcare workers in public hospitals of South Wollo Zone, Northeastern Ethiopia from June 15 to July 30, 2021. Proportional sample size allocation to each selected hospital followed by simple random sampling techniques were used to select the study participants using human resource records from each hospital. A pre-tested and structured self-administered questionnaire with WHO's standardized hand hygiene and PPE utilization observational checklist were used to collect data. Bivariate and multivariable analyses with 95% CI and p-value < 0.05 were employed to identify the associated factors of personal protective equipment utilization.Results: About 32 and 22.3% of healthcare workers were compliant with personal protective equipment utilization and hand hygiene practice, respectively. Feedback for safety (AOR = 2.05; 95% CI: 1.26–3.35), training on COVID-19 prevention (AOR = 3.43; 95% CI: 2.01–5.86), and perception to infection risk (AOR = 1.98; 95% CI: 1.18–3.33) were significant factors of good compliance with personal protective equipment utilization.Conclusion: The magnitude of good compliance with personal protective equipment utilization and hand hygiene was low. Interventions to promote personal protective equipment utilization and hand hygiene should focus on feedback for safety, training on COVID-19 prevention, and perception of infection risk.
Highlights
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has overwhelmingly changed the world and, is changing the conditions of healthcare workers (HCWs) [1]
This study aims to determine compliance of personal protective equipment utilization and hand hygiene practice and associated factors among healthcare workers toward the COVID-19 pandemic in hospital settings
Nearly two-thirds 300 (61.3%) of the HCWs had a perception of infection risk, only half 256 (52.4%) of healthcare workers had taken training on COVID-19 prevention and control (Table 2)
Summary
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has overwhelmingly changed the world and, is changing the conditions of healthcare workers (HCWs) [1]. This pandemic is creating profound challenges for healthcare workers and healthcare systems in the world, as the disease is spreading at an alarming rate, surpassing hospital capacities and exposing healthcare workers to a high risk of exposure [2]. The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, in late December 2019 and has rapidly spread to other countries [1]. The majority of people infected with the coronavirus are associated with occupational exposure. It is believed that the primary occupational groups in danger are persons working in seafood and wet animal markets in Wuhan [3]
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