Knowledge, attitude and practice of infection prevention and control precautions among hospital laboratory staff: a mixed-methods systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundClinical laboratories provide diagnostic testing services to support the effective delivery of care in today's complex healthcare systems. Processing clinical material and the use of chemicals or radiation presents potential hazard to laboratory workers, from both biological and chemical sources. Nevertheless, the laboratory should be a safe workplace if the identification of possible hazards, clear guidelines, safety rules and infection prevention and control (IPC) precautions are applied and followed. The main aim of this systematic review was to identify, critically appraise and synthesise the research evidence to gain a clear explanation of the implementation, knowledge, attitude and practice of infection prevention and control guidelines among hospital laboratory staff. MethodsThe review is based upon a narrative synthesis of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research papers that examine the implementation, knowledge, attitude and practice of infection prevention and control guidelines among hospital laboratory staff.ResultsAfter the full-text screening, a total of 34 articles remained and were included in the final review. The knowledge, attitude and practice of infection prevention and control, and biosafety guidelines were identified and grouped into several themes: awareness of IPC precautions; acceptability of IPC precautions; application of IPC precautions; perception of risk; exposure and post exposure prophylaxis; immunisation against infectious diseases; training and on infection prevention and control guidelines; associations between knowledge and practice; barriers and facilitators to poor practice and adherence. ConclusionThere is a gap between knowledge, attitude and practice related to the implementation of infection prevention and control guidelines which indicate that hospital laboratory staff may be at high risk of acquiring infections in the workplace. These findings suggest that training (including IPC precautions, safety policies, safety equipment and materials, safety activities, initial biohazard handling, ongoing monitoring and potential exposure) of hospital laboratory staff to increase their knowledge about IPC precautions could improve their use of these precautions.