Knowledge and practice of infection control among

health workers in a tertiary hospital in Edo state,

Nigeria
Direct Research Journal of Health and Pharmacology (DRJHP) Vol.1 (2), pp.20-27, November 2013
Available online at directresearchpublisher.org/drjhp ©2013 Direct Research Journals Publisher
Research Paper

Tobin Ekaete Alice1*, Asogun Danny was analysed using SPSS version 16. Results were
Akhere1, Odia Ikponwonsa2 and Ehidiamhen presented as tables, means and standard deviations.
Associations were tested with chi-square, with p set
Grace3 as < 0.05. One hundred and ninety three (93.2% )
1 respondents had ever heard of standard
FWACP. Institute of Lassa Fever Research and Control, precautions. Of this number, 11 (5.7%) respondents
Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo state, had poor knowledge of SP, 85(44.0%) had fair
Nigeria. knowledge, and 97 (50.3%) good knowledge.
2
MLT,Institute of Lassa Fever Research and Control, Knowledge was significantly associated with
Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo state, profession (p =0.00), with doctors having the highest
Nigeria. proportion with good knowledge, and porters, the
3
Institute of Lassa Fever Research and Control, Irrua lowest. Eight (3.9%) respondents were found to
Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo state, Nigeria. have poor compliance to standard precaution, 103
. (49.8%) fair and 96 (46.8%) good compliance.
Compliance was significantly associated with
ABSTRACT profession (p = 0.00) , with nurses as the profession
with the highest proportion with good practice.
The study investigated the knowledge and
practice of standard precautions ( SP) among Key words: Health workers, Knowledge,Standard
health providers in a Lassa fever endemic precautions, Tertiary.
community in Edo state. A Descriptive cross
sectional study was carried out among consenting
doctors, Nurses, Laboratory personnel and
Orderlies in the clinical departments of a rural *Corresponding Author E-mail: [email protected],
tertiary teaching hospital in Edo state. Data was +234(8)37544369
collected through structured self- administered
questionnaires, and focused on knowledge and
Accepted 20 November 2013
practice of hand hygiene, use of gloves and
protective gowns and sharp management. Data

INTRODUCTION

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are potentially exposed to Mizuno et al., 1997).Apart from these pathogens, Lassa
blood-borne pathogens through contact with infected virus is fast gaining prominence as an emerging
body parts, blood and body fluids in the course of their nosocomial transmitted pathogen with significant public
work (Sreedharan et al.,2001; Foster et al., 2010; health impact in the West African sub region.
Jahan 2005).It has been estimated that each year, as The most important mechanism of spread of these
many as three million HCWs all over the world pathogens is via the contaminated hands of the
experience percutaneous exposure to blood-borne healthcare givers or relatives/friends of the patients
viruses Hepatits C and B and HIV viruses (World (Mayank et al., 2009; Joseph et al., 2010). Contaminated
.
Health Report, 2002) The World Health Organization environmental surfaces , drugs, intravenous solutions or
estimates that about 2.5% of HIV cases and 40% of HBV by foodstuffs are all potential sources of infection
.
and HCV cases among HCWs worldwide are the result of (Mayank et al., 2009; Joseph et al., 2010) Standard
these exposures (Guilbert, 2003; Wicker et al., 2007; precautions are intended to protect the patient by
 Direct Res. J. Health Pharm. 21

ensuring that healthcare personnel do not transmit personnel for the training and continuing education of
infectious agents to patients through their hands or various cadres of medical and related manpower and
equipment during patient care.( Wang et al., 2010; Siegel medical research. The centre is also home to the
.
et al., 2007; Garner, 1996) The Centers for Disease Institute of Lassa fever research and control, a centre
Control (CDC) has recommended that standard of excellence for the diagnosis and management of
precautions be used on all patients, regardless of Lassa fever in the country.
knowledge about their infectious status( World Health Study population included all health care providers
Organization, 1988). in the clinical departments of Internal Medicine,
Compliance with standard precautions measures is Surgery, Obstetrics and gynaecology, Ophthalmology,
therefore essential to prevent and control healthcare- Pediatrics and the Laboratories as they are directly
associated infections in both health care workers and concerned with patient care and clinical management .
patients (Siegel et al., 2007; Garcia-zapata et al., 2010; Sample size was calculated using the formula for
Chan et al., 2002; Jawaid et al., 2009). prevalence study (Araoye, 2004) with z , standard
Standard Precautions have been widely promoted in normal deviate, taken as 1.96 representing a 95%
high-income countries, and to a lesser extent, in low- confidence interval, p as 13%, the proportion of
.
income countries. (Kermode et al., 2005 ) However, health workers with good knowledge of standard
despite the development of detailed guidelines, precautions In a study carried out in Borno state
(Roberts, 2000) in many developing countries, (Abdulraheem et al., 2012) a desired precision of 5%,
knowledge of standard precautions is grossly low, and a 10% non-response rate. Minimum sample size was
and standard precautions are not only insufficiently calculated as 174. Sample size was increased to 250 for
established and inappropriately applied, but also only validity.
selectively adhered to (Kermode et al., 2005; Okechukwu HCWs of the categories of doctors, nurses (trained
and Modreshi, 2012; Kolude et al.,2013; Oliveira et and auxiliary), laboratory scientists , porters and ward
al.,2009; Vaziri et al., 2008; Motamed et al., 2006; Chan orderlies ( as they were directly involved in patient
et al., 2002; Luo et al., 2010). care and management) , were full time employees of
Lassa fever, has since its discovery in Nigeria in the hospital, had spent at least one year on the job
1967, accounted for the deaths of a number of and who gave consent were recruited. HCWs who
HCWs. Unfortunately within health care setting, the were on leave or absent during the time of the
disease is transmitted by poor compliance to standard survey, those who refused consent, were excluded.
precautions. In the wake of recent upsurge in the number Total number of eligible health care workers was
of health care staff coming down with Lassa fever during 625. Proportional allocation, and thereafter simple
sporadic outbreaks from different parts of the country, random sampling was used to select respondents by
the study set out to assess the knowledge and department and job category.
degree of compliance to standard precautions among Data was collected through the use of structured
health care workers in a tertiary hospital in an self administered questionnaires, that had been
endemic area state. The tertiary hospital serves as a designed by the researchers after extensive literature
referral facility for diagnosis and management of search and consultations with experts in the field . The
Lassa fever cases from across the south, and questionnaire was divided into three parts. Part 1
particularly the southern states. The study will reveal focused on sociodemographic characteristics, Part two
the knowledge level and degree of compliance to SP contained 15 questions seeking to ascertain the level of
among health workers in a typical scenario where there is knowledge of the concept of standard precautions .
an obvious need for such. Questions covered the basic concepts, content, and
activity requirements of the standard precautions with
possible responses of ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Part 3 comprised
MATERIALS AND METHODS 32 questions on the level of adherence to standard
precautions. Standard precaution measures of interest
Study area included handwashing ( 7 items), use of gloves ( 6
items), use of nose mask/face shield ( 3 items) ,
The descriptive cross sectional study took place in sharps practices ( 12 items) and use of gown/apron (4
Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, in Esan central items).
LGA of Edo state, Nigeria. Established in 1993, It is Maximum possible score for each of these
a 375 bedded federal tertiary institution located measures was 14, 12, 6, 24 and 8 respectively. A
along the Benin-Abuja express way , 87 kilometers practice that was deemed right when undertaken
from Benin, the state’s capital. The main function of always was scored 2, sometimes was scored and 1
the hospital is the provision of facilities and personnel for and never scored 0 (Labrague et al.,2012).
the diagnosis and treatment of patients drawn from Edo Content , comprehensibility , clarity and format of
and neighboring states, provision of facilities and the questionnaire has been validated on input of a
Tobin et al. 22

Table 1. Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents. scale of 0–-2 points: 0 = never, 1 = sometimes, 2 =

always. Maximum total score for practice was 64,
Variable Frequency (%) respondents were graded for assessment of
Age (years) compliance as good, fair or poor if their summed
20-29 50 (24.2) scores fell <50% , between 50 and 74% and > 75%
30-39 97 (46.9) of the total score for practice.
40-49 41(19.2) Categorical data were displayed as frequencies,
50-59 19 (9.2) percentages, and continuous data as means, standard
Sex deviations, medians and percentiles. Cross-tabulations of
Male 88 (42.5) pairs of qualitative (categorical or ordinal) variables will
Female 119 (57.5) be produced and assessed using the Chi-square test of
Religion homogeneity and related tests of the strength of
Christianity 184 (88.9) associations. To determine the association between
Islam 7 (3.4) knowledge , demographic and basic characteristics of
None 16 (7.7) HCWs, multiple logistic regression analysis was
Marital status performed with knowledge grade as the outcome
Single 57 (27.5) dependent variable and demographic and basic
Married 147 (71.0) characteristics as predictor variables. Throughout,
Separated 1 (0.5) statistical significance was assessed at p < 0.05.
Widowed 2 (1.0) Ethical approval was obtained from the hospital’s
Designation ethical committee. Individual informed consent was
Doctors 48 (23.2) obtained from participants.
Nurse 83 (40.1) The study is conducted on the assumption that health
Laboratory scientist 34 (16.4) care workers in the hospital had been exposed to
Orderlies 42 (20.3) educational material either in the form of lectures, posters
Level of education or pamphlets and thus were aware of the infection control
Primary 6 (2.9) measures required to be practiced. Being a cross
Secondary 31 (15.0) sectional study, actual performance of standard
tertiary 170 (82.1) precaution was not assessed , and so findings may be
Duration of work (years) an over-representation.
>1 14 (6.7)
1-5 134 (64.7)
6-10 21 (10.1) RESULTS
>10 38 (18.4)
Two hundred and seven completely filled questionnaires
were analysed. Mean age was 35.7 + 7.9 years (median
age 34.0 years),females were in the majority, 119
(57.5%); Christians and married respondents both
volunteer sample of 30 local government health made up the majority, 184 (88.9%) and 147 (71.0%)
workers in a pilot test. Research assistants were respectively. Respondents with tertiary education and
scientific officers of the institute who were given a nurses made up the highest proportions, 170 (82.1%)
one-day hands on training on questionnaires/checklist and 83 (40.1%) respectively. Mean number of years
administration. of work in the hospital was 5.8 + 6.5 years (Table 1).
Data from the questionnaire were coded and entered One hundred and ninety three (93.2%) respondents
into a SPSS version 15 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). had ever heard of standard precautions (SP) , and
Knowledge of standard precautions was graded by further questions on SP were directed at them. The
assigning a score of “1” for a correct answer and “0” for school provided information for the majority, 100
an incorrect or ‘do not know’ answer . This scoring (52.1%). Other sources include the media ( internet)
system has been used in an earlier study to 40 (20.3%), sponsored training 28 (14.6%), fellow
investigate universal precautions among health colleagues 17 (8.9%) and IEC material 8 (4.2%).
workers in Borno state, Nigeria (Abdulraheem et al., One hundred and thirty nine (72.0 %) of the
2012) and student nurses in the Philippines (Federal respondents knew SP aims to protect both health care
Ministry of Health and John Snow Inc, 2006). Scores workers and patients from transmission of infection. One
for each respondent were summed up and graded hundred and five (85.5 %) agreed that all patients were
as good , fair or poor. potentially infectious irrespective of their diagnostic
Compliance with standard precautions was graded status, 180 (93.3%) opined SP should be applied to
by assigning scores to Likert scale responses on a all patients regardless of their infectious status. SP
 Direct Res. J. Health Pharm. 23

Table 2. Practice of Standard Precautions by respondents.

Item Frequency
Always n (%) Sometimes n (%) Never n (%)
Hand washing (n = 207)
On arrival at work 55 (26.6) 90 (43.5) 62 (30.0)
Before patient contact 75 (36.2) 82 (39.6) 50 (24.2)
After patient contact 171 (82.6) 28 (13.5) 8 (3.9)
After contact with contaminated equipment or surfaces 168 (81.2) 24 (11.6) 15 (7.2)
Before wearing gloves 58 (28.0) 61 (29.5) 88 (42.5)
After wearing gloves 150 (72.5) 27 (13.0) 30 (14.5)
After using the toilet 186 (89.9) 14 (6.8) 7 (3.4)

Use of gloves (n = 207)

Wear gloves when touching blood or other body fluid or mucus membrane 182 (87.9) 17 (8.2) 8 (3.9)
Change gloves between patient contacts 166 (80.2) 30 (14.5) 11(5.3)
Change gloves between different procedures on the same patient 84 (40.6) 91 (44.0) 32 (15.5)
Reuse disposable gloves 17 (8.2) 7 (3.4) 183 (88.4)

Face mask (n = 207)

Wear facemask when undertaking procedures likely to generate splashes 106 (51.2) 78 (37.7) 23 (11.1)
Wear nose mask when working within 1-2metres of patients with 67 (32.4) 98 (47.3) 42 (20.3)
expectoration
Reuse disposable nose mask 9 (4.3) 29 (14.0) 169 (81.6)

Gown (n = 207)
Wear gown/apron to protect skin/clothing when undertaking procedures likely 104 (50.2) 55 (26.6) 48 (23.1)
to generate splashes
Wear impermeable gown 58 (28.6) 56 (27.1) 93 (45.0)
Remove soiled /wet gown as soon as possible 138 (66.7) 26 (12.6) 43 (20.8)
Reuse disposable gown 22 (10.6) 51 (24.6) 134 (64.8)

Sharps management (n = 165)*

Recapping 24 (14.5) 36 (21.8) 105 (63.6)
Detaching needle from syringe 31 (18.8) 47 (28.5) 87 (52.7)
Manipulate needles (bending, breaking) 19 (11.5) 15 (9.1) 131 (79.4)
Use syringe with needle on agitated patient 113(68.5) 24 (14.5) 28 (17.0)
Protect fingers when breaking glass ampoule/bottle 95 (58.2) 36 (21.8) 33 (20.0)
Dispose sharp immediately in safety box 132 (80.0) 28 (17.0) 5 (3.0)
Reuse disposable needle and syringe for same patient 32 (19.4) 10 (6.1) 123 (74.5)
Tobin et al. 24

was said to apply to blood and body fluids by 187 break a glass ampoule or bottle.
(96.6%), mucus membrane by 169 (87.6%) and non- Assessment of compliance to four items of infection
intact skin by 151 (78.2%) respondents. Ninety seven control ( hand washing, use of gowns, nose mask ,hand
(50.3%) respondents correctly identified all groups at gloves ) found 8 (3.9%) respondents to have poor
risk of health care associated infections to include practice, 103 (49.8%) fair and 96 (46.8%) good
patients, health care workers and communities . compliance. Compliance was significantly associated
Concerning the knowledge of hand hygiene, 182 with profession (p = 0.00) , with nurses as the
(94.3%) correctly knew hand hygiene to be the profession with the highest proportion with good , and
most important procedure for reducing transmission lowest proportion with poor practice. The reverse
of germs, though 129 (66.8%) agreed that hand was the case for Orderlies/porters .
jewellery made hand hygiene difficult to achieve. There was no statistically significant relationship
Times when hand washing was necessary were with gender (p = 0.84), duration of employment (p=
stated as after wearing gloves 176 (91.2%), and 0.11) or age (p = 0.73) (Table 3). Mean scores for the
before and after patient care 179 (92.7%) respectively. selected items of standard precaution showed
Others included, on arrival at work by 140(72.3%), significantly different scores between the professions
between different procedures on the same patient, for handwashing practice, use of nose mask and use
132 (68.4%), and before wearing gloves 113 (58.5%). of gowns , doctors having the lowest mean for the
Poor sharps practices were stated as reuse of first two items, and orderlies for use of gowns (Table
syringe and needles by 182 (94.3%), recapping 165 4). Good knowledge of SP was significantly associated
(85.5%) and improper disposal 176 (91.2%). with good practice ( p = 0.02).
Eleven (5.7%) respondents had poor knowledge of
SP, 85(44.0%) had fair knowledge, and 97 (50.3%)
good knowledge. Knowledge was significantly DISCUSSION
associated with profession ( p =0.00), such that doctors
had the highest proportion with good knowledge , and Most of the health workers in this study were in the
porters the reverse. There was no association with sex 30 years age bracket, similar to what was
(p= 0.59) , duration of employment ( p = 0.54) and age documented in some studies ( Sreedharan et al., 2001;
(p = 0.81). Johnson et al., 2013; Janjua et al., 2007; Reda et al.,
Regarding practice of standard precautions, hand 2010) emphasizing the need to protect this group of
washing was always carried out by 186 (89.6%) workers in the prime of their life from hospital
respondents after use of toilet, 168 (81.2%) after infections.
contact with contaminated instruments or surfaces, Data from the study reveal the high awareness of
and 171 (82.6%) after patient contact. Hand washing standard precautions, as has been reported in some
was less frequent at other times (Table 2). studies (Sreedharan et al., 2001; Isara and Ofili, 2010) .
One hundred and eighty two (87.9%) respondents The classroom provided the most information for the
claimed to wear hand gloves regularly when touching majority,while in some other study, seminars and
blood , body secretions or mucus membranes, 166 workshops were sources of information(Abdulraheem
(80.2%) wore regularly between contact with different et al., 2012). IEC materials were not a common source
patients, 84 (40.6 %) between different procedures on of information probably because they are largely
the same patient and 17 (8.2%) agreed to always unavailable within the facility, and where found are
reusing disposable gloves. either not visibly placed, worn out or outdated. This is
The regular use of face mask when undertaking a unfortunate,as IEC materials provide for reinforcement
procedure that could generate splashes of blood or of the health message.
other body fluid was reported by 106 (51.2%) About half of the respondents were found to have
respondents, 67 (32.4%) claimed to always use nose good knowledge of standard precaution . Knowledge
mask when working within 1-2 metres of a patient was found to be higher than what was reported in
with cough, and a minority , 9 (4.3%) attested to Northern Nigeria (Abdulraheem et al., 2012), and in the
consistently reusing nose mask. Federal Medical centre, Asaba ( Isara and Ofili, 2010)
Regarding sharp management, 24 (14.5 %) of 165 ,and lower than what was recorded in other studies
respondents ( excluding orderlies, as they did not (Johnson et al., 2013; . Vaz et al., 2010; . Labrangue et
directly handle sharps) admitted to always recapping al., 2010) . The narrow margin between awareness
needles, 31(18.8%) to detaching needles from and knowledge seen in this study is in contrast with
syringes and 19 (11.5%) to manipulating needles what has been reported in some studies, where
(including bending, cutting or breaking). One hundred awareness levels among health workers were high,
and thirteen (68.5%) claimed never to use syringes and deep knowledge found to be low (Okechukwu
with needles on agitated patients, and 95 (58.2%) and Modreshi 2012; Kolude et al., 2013; Isara and Ofili,
claimed to protect their fingers anytime they had to 2010).
 Direct Res. J. Health Pharm. 25

Table 3. Association of profession with knowledge and selected standard precaution practices ( N = 207).

Knowledge of standard precautions

Profession Poor n(%) Fair n (%) Good n (%) Total P -value
0.00
Doctors 1(2.1) 11(22.9) 36(75.0) 48(100.0)
Nurses 4(4.9) 40(48.8) 38(46.3) 82 (100.0)
Lab 1(3.6) 11(33.3) 21(63.6) 33 (100.0)
Orderlies/porters 5(16.7) 23(76.7) 2(6.7) 30(100.0)
Total 11(5.7) 85 (44.0) 97 (50.3) 207 (100.0)

Practice of standard precautions

Poor n(%) Fair n (%) Good n (%) Total P -value
Doctors 5(10.4) 29(60.4) 14 (29.2) 48 (100.0) 0.00
Nurses 1(1.2) 31(37.3) 51 (61.4) 83 (100.0)
Lab 3(8.8) 12 (35.3) 19 (55.9) 34 (100.0)
Orderlies/porters 5(11.9) 25 (59.5) 12 (28.6) 42 (100.0)
Total 14(6.8) 97 (46.9) 96 (46.4) 207 (100.0)

Table 4. Mean scores for selected SP practices by profession.

Profession Hand washing Mean (S.D.) Gloves Mean (S.D.) Nose mask Mean (S.D.) Sharps Mean (S.D.) Gown Mean (S.D.)
Doctors 8.81 (2.03) 9.98(1.78) 3.18 (1.21) 18.27 (3.55) 3.88 (2.05)
Nurses 11.0(2.21) 10.59 (1.80) 4.51 (1.39) 18.16 (3.70) 4.43 (2.13)
Lab 9.5 (2.33) 9.65 (2.43) 4.44 (1.44) 19.03 (3.16) 4.97 (1.38)
Orderlies/porters 9.36 (2.69) 9.88 (2.18) 4.29 (1.44) - 2.69 (2.42)
F test 0.00 0.06 0.03 0.47 0.00

The higher proportion of doctors who were regards timing for hand hygiene and use of often necessitates handling waste, and hand
found to be more knowledge than other health jewellery during hand hygiene. Hand hygiene washing thereafter becomes needful .
workers was equally observed in a study was least known to be carried out before Poor needle handling (re-capping, manipulation
carried out in Uyo (Johnson et al., 2013), and wearing gloves , and correspondingly, poorly and detaching ) was practiced at a rate lower
is not surprising as doctors have more in- practiced. Interestingly, porters had better than what was reported in previous studies
depth training than others in the health team. hand hygiene practice than other health workers. (Reda et al., 2010; Sadoh et al., 2006; Tadesse
Areas for improvement in hand hygiene are This might be due to their often times greater and Tadesse, 2009; . Kermode et al., 2005 ) .
identified as the knowledge and practice as perception of risk, and the fact that their work While this is encouraging, it is still worthwhile
Tobin et al. 26

to emphasize that the practice be discouraged assistants, and the management of the hospital. Health
amongst the few who still manipulate sharps. The workers who participated are also acknowledged.
likelihood of NSI is multiplied during such processes
(Luo et al., 2010; Reda et al., 2010). Reasons
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