To What Extent the Hand Hygiene among Health Care Workers Become the Core of Best Practice in the COVID-19 Era?

Abstract

In the Era of COVID-19 outbreak, hand hygiene become a particularly critical for frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) who are overstretched and for whom this key routine task must be easy to complete and effective to prevent Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Therefore, this current study aims to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of hand hygiene among the HCWs and the potential factors influencing hand hygiene (HH) compliance according to the hand hygiene protocols at primary health care (PHC) centers in Prince Sultan Military Medical City (PSMMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This cross-sectional study included clinical staff working at PHC centers. A pre-validate questionnaire was used with observational approach of the application of HH among the study sample. The data were analyzed using SPSS software, and descriptive statistics and logistic regression models were produced. A P-value less than 0.05 with 95% confidence interval was used to declare statistical significance.Of 425 clinical study participants, 263 (61.9%) were females, 169 (39.8%) were at age group 31-39 years, and 215 (50.6%) were nurses/laboratory specialist, and 281 (33.9%) were from departments of high risk of contamination. Overall, the average knowledge score was 75%. However, there were significant higher scores in knowledge level among nurse and laboratory specialist had than the rest (P < 0.01) and three times likely more positive practice of hand hygiene in comparison to others [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 3.285, 95% CI, 1.764-6.116].Health care workers in this study showed a good score of hand hygiene knowledge but suboptimal practices which could be addressed the need for multimodal training program on strict implementation of the guidelines and compliance with hand hygiene best practices.

Enablers and Barriers to Handwashing and Vaccine Uptake in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania in Relation to COVID-19 Prevention and Control: A Systematic Review

“…The study results are similar previous studies (9) which indicated that providing facilities with clean water, soap, and hand rub, at various places increased hand washing practice. Similarly, previous research on access to knowledge and information about hand hygiene and covid-19 vaccines has presented similar ndings as highlighted by (10). The author's ndings revealed that participants who had received formal hand hygiene training applied the practice routinely during Covid-19.…”

“…In a study to assess hand hygiene compliance in India, the study ndings indicated that spreading out facilities with clean water, soap, basins, and hand rub enhanced the use of hand washing (9). Also, a study to assess hand hygiene practices among Health Care Workers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the study results showed that the participants who had formal hand hygiene instruction used it regularly throughout Covid-19 (10). A study in Sub-Saharan Africa to investigate the obstacles to hand hygiene practices revealed that to improve hand hygiene practices, it was necessary to offer education on the topic and sustainable solutions to the water shortage, disinfectants, incentives, among other remedies (11).…”

Hand Hygiene Compliance and Associated Factors among Healthcare Workers in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Those with a good knowledge of hand hygiene were 3.45 times more likely to comply in this study than those with poor knowledge. This was confirmed by a study conducted in Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Military Medical City, which found that healthcare workers' knowledge was significantly associated with good hand hygiene compliance [ 32 ]. This could be linked to having a good understanding of hand hygiene compliance, which can help you comply with hand hygiene in the recommended manner, identify the benefits and drawbacks of hand hygiene compliance, and identify the route of healthcare-acquired infection transmission and how to avoid it.…”

Self-reported adherence of healthcare workers to infection prevention and control practices during the early waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt

“…We, therefore, recommend educating them on the importance of handwashing for at least 20 sec, as recommended by the WHO. Self-reported adherence to frequent ('usually') use of hand antisepsis using alcohol-based hand rub reached 72.5%, which was lower than the 94.8% reported by Al Mutairi et al (25). The major determinants of the use of alcohol-based hand rubs are the cost and availability of these products (25).…”

“…Self-reported adherence to frequent ('usually') use of hand antisepsis using alcohol-based hand rub reached 72.5%, which was lower than the 94.8% reported by Al Mutairi et al (25). The major determinants of the use of alcohol-based hand rubs are the cost and availability of these products (25). Masks are often worn to prevent transmission of infection via droplets in the community or healthcare settings.…”