Infection prevention practice and associated factors among health professionals working in governmental health centers of Kembata Tembaro zone, south Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Infection in healthcare settings is a problem for health services around the world and the main public health problem, which causes major health risks that lead to morbidity, mortality, and cost. Review of literature done shows that studies done in related topic are mainly in hospital settings, but health centers are different from hospitals in many regards. Finally, practice was assessed among health care workers, but service users witnessed it. Objective: To assess infection prevention practice and associated factors among health professionals working in governmental health centers in Kembata Tembaro Zone, SNNP Regional state. Methods: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted from 23 March - 23 April 2020 in governmental health centers found in randomly selected districts and town administrations of Kembata Tembaro Zone. Out of 335 professionals found in the health centers, 329 health care professionals working in Governmental health centers were participated. In addition, out of 422 sampled study participants, 412 clients were interviewed to witness the practice of health care workers in the facilities. The data collection was employed using both methods. In the quantitative method, an interviewer- administered structured questionnaire and observation checklist was used. For the qualitative part, in- depth interview guide was used. Data entry was made using the Epidata 3.1 software. Then the data was exported to SPSS statistical package version 23 for further analysis. The multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed for those candidate variables. Observation data was analyzed descriptively and qualitative data was analyzed using thematic technique. Result A total of 329 health professions were participated yielding the response rate of 98.2% in both structured questioner (285) and observation (44). The findings showed that, among 285 health professions, 158(55.4%) respondents were knowledgeable on infection prevention and 48.4% had good infection prevention practice. The overall reported hand hygiene practice was 59.8%. Report on injection and sharp segregation practice shows that 156(54.7%) health professions were using safety box for sharp waste segregation. Ever married(AOR=3.384, 95% CI [ 1.615-7.088]), service years[AOR=2 .179, 95%CI(1.142-4.158)], working hours[AOR=2.227, 95% CI(1.195-4.150)], Knowledge on infection prevention(AOR= 1.955, 95% CI [1.063-3.593]) and Attending training programs(AOR: 2.262, 95%CI: (1.008,5.078) were found to be significantly associated with infection prevention practice at P- value <0.05. From qualitative data, high professional’s turnover, heavy patient load and perceived under-staffing, frustration with follow up from health centers, and negligence of health professionals were classified as barriers. 51.9% of clients said providers wash their hands after touching their body. Conclusion Infection prevention practice among the health professionals is low in sharp waste segregation and Personal protective equipment utilization. The study finding suggests health center need for improvement in the supply of materials for IP and Sharp Waste should be segregated and disposed per standard.