Knowledge and self-reported practices of infection control among various occupational groups in a rural and an urban hospital in Vietnam

Abstract

Staff practice, driven by knowledge, plays a decisive role in hospital infection control. This study aimed to assess and compare knowledge and self-reported practices of infection control among various occupational groups in a rural and an urban hospital in Vietnam. Questionnaires consisting of items on knowledge and practices were collected from 339 hospital staff with varying occupations. For analysis, total knowledge or practice score ranged from 0–15. Mood’s median test was performed to compare median scores. Post-hoc analysis of ordinal logistic regression models was applied to test differences in scores among occupational groups. The majority of hospital staff had good or adequate knowledge (median score: rural = 11.8; urban = 12), but the score range was wide (1.4–14.5). Self-reported practices in the urban hospital were likely to be better than in the rural one (p = 0.003). Self-reported practices yet not completely satisfactory, indicating the need for continuing professional development in both settings. Overall, cleaners had lower scores than both physicians and nurses, highlighting the need for tailored education in this topic. Future infection control strategies within the hospitals might want to assess the difference between the staff’s self-reported practice and their actual real practice. These findings can be of value in many other similar settings.

A Potential Way to Decrease the Know-Do Gap in Hospital Infection Control in Vietnam: “Providing Specific Figures on Healthcare-Associated Infections to the Hospital Staff Can ‘Wake Them Up’ to Change Their Behaviour”

“…In this study, cleaning workers were not well aware of their role in preventing HAIs. A cross-sectional study, conducted in the same hospitals, indicated lower infection control knowledge as well as practice scores of cleaning workers compared to doctors and nurses [ 12 ]. In fact, there is evidence supporting that the role of cleaning in hospitals is an important intervention in controlling HAIs [ 23 ].…”

“…It can also be used concurrently with quantitative research to confirm, compare or cross-validate the results [ 11 ]. In the case of our study, we use qualitative methods to provide insights on the issue of hospital infection control, as well as to compare and better understand findings from a quantitative study on the same topic conducted at the same hospitals [ 12 ].…”

Determinants of Knowledge and Practice of Infection Prevention and Control among Healthcare Workers during COVID-19 Outbreak in Nigeria

“…12 Good practice of IPC is driven by good attitude and knowledge. 13 Healthcare workers knowledge and adherence toward general IPC strategies is still very low. 13,14 Some of the factors that contribute to good knowledge and practice of IPC include; older age, years of work experience, 15 higher educational status, training, and availability of infection prevention supplies.…”

Development of a Need-based Interventional Skin Care Protocol on Incontinence-associated Dermatitis among Critically Ill Patients

“…According to a similar study which is conducted by 舠Lien et al舡 taking 339 hospital staff, it revealed that most of the study participants had good or adequate knowledge though the level of practice is not completely satisfactory. 7 …”