Healthcare Providers’ Knowledge and Frequency of Healthcare-associated Infections in Secondary Level Hospitals of Karachi

Abstract

Background: Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs) are significant public health challenge in world. HAIs are acquired during the course of treatment in a healthcare setting. Infection control measures can decrease HAIs by more than 50%.
Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in five secondary level hospital supervised by a Karachi based NGO. Data was collected in two months March-April 2017.A total of 350 healthcare workers were randomly selected from the 5 hospitals and
analyzed in the final data. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Version 21. Association between categorical variables were assessed through the application of Chi square and difference in knowledge scores among different hospitals employees identified through
their numbers of beds and was taken out by the application of ANOVA. Significant valueis less than 0.05. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed out of which a total of 350 were answered, giving the response rate of 87.5%. Significant difference was observed among the hospitals (F 2.698 P Value 0.03) when preparedness against infection was assessed. 22 bedded hospital was found to have a higher preparedness score among all the hospitals. Maximum frequency of nosocomial infections was seen in hospital with maximum number of beds.
Conclusion: This study indicated that the current status of nurse knowledge related to Nosocomial infections was poor. Policies on infection control and training and re-training of HCW are highly recommended.
Key words: HAI, Nosocomial infection, Healthcare worker, Infection control measure, Secondary level hospital.