Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Get aware of hand hygiene: Implement it in your attitude

Document Type : Original Article

Author

. Gitali Bhagawati
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although there is advancement in the health‑care system, the rates of
hospital‑acquired infections (HAIs) are still high. Poor hand hygiene (HH) among healthcare workers
(HCWs) is identified as one of the major causes of HAIs.
AIMS: The aim and objective of this study is to assess the awareness and attitude regarding hand
hygiene (HH) among HCWs in a superspecialty hospital in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross‑sectional, semi‑structured, questionnaire‑based study was carried
out in a superspecialty hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India. Questionnaires were distributed on the training
session of HH organized in the eve of World HH Day on May 5th, 2016.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total 104 questionnaires were distributed among various HCWs.
Each questionnaire was composed of 14 questions to test the awareness and attitude regarding
HH. Awareness regarding HH among HCWs was graded as excellent (>80% correct response),
satisfactory (80%–50%), and unsatisfactory (<50%). Attitude was graded on the basis of their
response: excellent (strongly agree), satisfactory (agree), and unsatisfactory (other response).
RESULTS: Awareness was found to be unsatisfactory regarding the most frequent source of germs
in hospital setting (39.42%) and effective time of proper hand rub (42.30%). Lack of awareness
regarding adequate time of hand wash among doctors (85.71%) was an important issue.

Keywords

Hand hygiene
healthcare worker
hospital‑acquired infection
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 8, Issue 2
February 2018
Pages 1-6

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