Knowledge and Perception of Hand Hygiene among House Officers in a Tertiary Health Care Centre in Punjab, Pakistan

摘要

AbstractBackground:????Hand??hygiene??is??one??of??the??primary??measures??to??reduce??health??care??associated??infections??(HCAIs).??There??is??a??need??to??explore??the??concept??of??hand??hygiene??among??the??medical??graduates.Objective:????To??assess??the??knowledge??and??perception??of??hand??hygiene??among??house??officers??in??a??tertiary??health??care??centre.Patients??and??Methods:????This??cross??sectional??survey??was??conducted??in??the??departments??of??Paediatrics,??Internal??Medicine,??Surgery??and??Obstetrics??/??Gynaecology,??in??affiliated??hospitals??of??King??Edward??Medical??University??/??Mayo??Hospital,??Lahore??from??October??to??December??2015.??World??Health??Organizationa€?s??validated??hand??hygiene??knowledge??and??perception??questionnaire??was??used.??A??total??of??100??fresh??medical??graduates,??who??passed??their??MBBS??in??March??a€“??April??2015,??working??as??house??officers??were??included??in??the??study??by??non-probability??convenient??sampling.??The??data??were??entered??in??SPSS??20??for??statistical??analysis.??Chi??square??test??was??used??for??comparison.Results:????Of??100??house??officers??approached,??67??participated??in??this??study.??Only??20??(29%)??had??received??formal??training??in??hand??hygiene??and??40??(59%)??practiced??routine??use??of??alcohol??hand??rub.??The??study??did??not??document??satisfactory??level??of??knowledge??regarding??hand??hygiene.??Overall,??27??(40.3%)??house??officers??had??correct??knowledge??of??main??route??of??transmission??of??potential??harmful??germs,??while??23??(34.3%)??house??officers??had??correct??knowledge??of??main??source??of??germs??in??HCAI.??Only,??41??(61.2%)??house??officers??correctly??knew??of??20??seconds??as??the??minimum??time??required??for??effective??alcohol-based??hand??rub.??The??house??officers??were??of??the??opinion??that??alcohol??a€“??based??hand??rub??must??be??available??at??health??a€“??care??facility??at??each??point??of??care??and??awareness??posters??should??be??displayed??at??same??points??as??reminders.??Actions??taken??by??leaders??and??managers??regarding??effective??measures??towards??hand??hygiene??were??considered??effective??in??improving??the??hand??hygiene??practices.Conclusion:????The??unsatisfactory??level??of??knowledge??regarding??hand??hygiene??indicates??that??the??house??officers??require??increased??emphasis??on??hand??hygiene??education??and??improvement??in??their??current??primary??training??as??well??as??undergraduate??curricula.?.