Adherence to Standard Precautions and Associated Factors among Health Care Workers at Public and Private Hospitals in Dessie city, Northeast Ethiopia, 2021

Abstract

Abstract Background: Standard precautions are work practices required to achieve a maximal level of infection control in health facilities. Although few studies were done on assessing the adherence of standard precaution of health care workers in public hospitals, there is a paucity of information to compare it with the adherence in private hospitals. Objective: To assess adherence to standard precautions and associated factors among health care workers at public and private hospitals in Dessie city, Northeast Ethiopia. Methods: An institution based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1 to 30 /2021. A total of 470 health care workers were selected from public and private hospitals by using stratified random sampling technique. A structured pre tested self-administered questionnaire and observation checklist were used for data collection. Epi data version 3.1 was used for data entry, while STATA version 14.1 was used for data analysis. The data were analyzed by binary logistic regression and variables with P-value < 0.2 in bivariable analysis were entered into multivariable analysis model. In addition, variables with a P-value <0.05 with 95% CI were declared as statistically significant. Results: The overall adherence to standard precautions was 51.6% (95%CI: 46.9- 56.2). At public and private hospitals, it was 52.2% (95%CI: 45.6-58.6) and 60.4% (95%CI: 53.9- 66.9), respectively. In public hospitals adherence was affected by female sex [AOR: 2.58; 95%CI: 1.32-5.02)], availability of written guidelines [AOR: 3.10; 95%CI: 1.62-5.94)], having good knowledge [AOR: 2.05; 95%CI: 1.03-4.11)] and favorable attitude towards standard precautions [AOR: 2.21; 95%CI: 1.14-4.27)]. In private hospitals, it was affected by availability of running tape water [AOR: 2.36; 95%CI: 1.10-5.04)], personal protective equipments (AOR: 2.22; 95%CI; 1.01-4.93)], color coded dust bins [AOR: 2.33; 95%CI: 1.04-5.21)], having good knowledge [AOR: 2.10; 95%CI: 1.07-4.13)] and favorable attitude [AOR: 2.63; 95%CI: 1.39-4.97)]. Conclusions and recommendations: Despite, the finding of overall adherence to SPs was moderate, it was higher among private than public hospital health care workers. Thus, ensuring adequate availiabilty of PPEs, safety materials and running tape water in working rooms particularly in public hospitals is highly recommended. Key words: Adherence, standard precautions, health care workers, hospitals, Dessie