| dc.description.abstract | Inadequate knowledge and practice of infection
control methods contributes towards a major
proportion of hospital-acquired infections. The
objective of the present study was to assess the
knowledge and practice of infection control
methods among the health care workers at Army
Hospital, Narahenpita. This descriptive cross
sectional study took place at Army Hospital,
Narahenpita. The study population included all
health care workers in all clinical departments/
laboratories and included all the senior house
officers, house officers and nurses. A total of 180
health care workers participated in the study.
Simple random sampling was used to select
respondents according to period of service
and job designation. Data was collected using
a self-administered, pre tested and validated
questionnaire. Knowledge on infection prevention
methods was assessed through 20-targeted
questions. The remaining 20 were allocated to
assessment of practice. The questionnaire was
divided into 4 sections, assessing hand hygiene,
glove usage, garbage disposal, and cleaning of
infected materials. The knowledge and practice on
these areas was evaluated. Participants performed
better in questions based on practice rather than
knowledge. Respondents had significant lack of
knowledge in usage of gloves. The knowledge and
practice with regard to proper disposal of garbage
was satisfactory with 90 scoring adequately. A
sizable relationship was found between lack of
knowledge and practice. (p<0.05). There was
a significant proportion of healthcare workers
who performed poorly in both knowledge and
practice. Further educational programmes on
infection control will be necessary to improve
the knowledge and practices of the health care
workers at the Army Hospital, Narahenpita. | en_US |
