Evaluating BMWM scenario of Alwar through KAP index of the hospital staff

Abstract

Purpose Any type of waste that is produced during medical treatments is called biomedical waste. Because BMW is a complex waste with high degree of quantitative and qualitative variations which arise due to the practices followed by the hospital staff in handling of waste, it is very crucial to analyse the knowledge and attitude of the waste handlers. A qualitative study was thus conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices followed for bio medical waste management by the hospital staff of government and private hospitals of Alwar. Methods For this a questionnaire was distributed to 335 respondents and based on the scorecard for the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice scores KAP index was evaluated. Results The KAP index as per the scorecard came to be satisfactory for both government and private hospitals, though it was on a better side for the govt hospital staff; indicating a slightly better biomedical waste management in government hospitals as compared to private hospitals. When the socio demography of the respondents was associated with the KAP index it was found that age, occupation, experience and training influenced the KAP index as the P value was > 0.05. Correlation analysis results showed a positive and strong correlation between all the three parameters i.e. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice for bio medical waste management. Conclusions The KAP scorecard highlighted that the score of the cleaners, who have the prime responsibility of handling biomedical waste, was moderate so biomedical waste management needs improvements in the hospitals of Alwar.