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Alnoumas et al

Greener Journal of  Medical Sciences Vol. 2 (4), pp. 092-098, August 2012

ISSN: 2276-7797

Research Paper

Manuscript Number:08011225

Knowledge, attitude and behavior of primary health care workers regarding health care-associated infections in Kuwait.

Salah R. Alnoumas, Fayda A.I. Enezi, Meshal M. A. Isaeed, Gamal Makboul and Medhat K. El-Shazly*
¹MRCGP, JaberAlahmad Armed Force Hospital, Kuwait
²MRCGP, Menahi Al-AsimyClinic, PHC, MOH, Kuwait
³MRCGP, Alabdelhadi Center, PHC, MOH, Kuwait
⁴MD, Department of Community medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt& Department of Health Information and Medical records, Ministry of Health, Kuwait.
⁵MD, Department of Medical Statistics, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Egypt& Department of Health Information and Medical records, Ministry of Health, Kuwait.

*Corresponding Author’s E-mail: medshaz@yahoo.com

Abstract:

Background: Health care workers (HCWs) are at high-risk for acquiring health care-associated infections (HAIs) and transmission to their patients and close contacts.
Objective: The aim of the present study is to study primary health care (PHC) workers’ knowledge, attitudes and behavior towards HAIs in Kuwait.
Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey that was conducted in all primary health centers located in two randomly selected health regions in Kuwait. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all currently working physician and nurses in the selected centers.
Results: The majority of the participants were aware that a HCW can acquire HAIs from a patient, but less than 60.0% knew that a HCW can transmit these infections to a patient.
physicians and nurses’ beliefs regarding various control measures of HAIs were more or less positive as 59.4% to 85.1% of them believed in these various measures. It is observed that proportions of physicians and nurses practicing infection control measurements were less than that reported when describing their positive attitude towards HAIs.
Conclusions: HCWs in primary health care showed good knowledge and positive attitude, but poor practice regarding control measures against HAIs. They need health education campaigns to enhance understanding the importance of practicing control measure that they believed in

Key words: Physicians, nurses, knowledge, behavior, health care associated infection

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Journal Name : citation_journal : Greener Journal of  Medical Sciences