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Knowledge, attitudes and practices of healthcare workers at the Princess Marina Hospital in Botswana, regarding hepatitis B prevention and control.

Thesis (MPH))University of Limpopo (Medunsa Campus), 2011. / Introduction: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a highly infectious virus responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality world wide. Chronic HBV carriers can transmit HBV parenterally in a hospital setting putting healthcare workers (HCWs) and their patients at risk of infection.
Aim and objectives: This study aimed to investigate knowledge, attitudes and practices towards prevention and control of HBV amongst nurses, doctors and laboratory personnel. Objectives were to determine: (a) the knowledge; (b) the attitudes; (c) the practices of nurses, doctors and laboratory personnel; (d) if there are any associations between (1) knowledge and practice, and (2) attitudes and practice; (e) the predictors of HBV vaccination uptake.
Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to doctors, laboratory staff and nurses at Princess Marina Hospital.
Results: Two hundred questionnaires were distributed and a total of 117 were returned, giving an overall response rate of 58.5%. More doctors had good knowledge (38.9% [7/18]), followed by 20% (4/20) of laboratory staff and 11.4% (9/79) of nurses. Most staff (100% [20/20] of laboratory staff; 97.5% [77/79] of nurses; 94.4% [17/18] of doctors) had positive attitudes. More laboratory staff (100 [20/20]) displayed good practices, followed by nurses (94.9% [75/79]); and lastly doctors (88.9% [16/18]). There were no significant associations between knowledge or attitudes and practices. Vaccination was inadequate, with 50.9% (59/116) of HCWs having received at least one dose, and of these only 61% (36/59) receiving all 3 doses. Needle stick injuries occurred in 31.6% (37/117), while 33.9% (39/115) reported blood or body fluid splashes. None of the HCWs accessed PEP after exposure. Being a laboratory worker (OR: 148.4) or doctor (OR: 125.7) were the only predictors of vaccination uptake.
Conclusion:
There is need to increase knowledge of HCWs, vaccination availability, vaccination uptake, PEP, and reduce the exposures of HCWs.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/457
Date January 2011
CreatorsMachiya, Tichaona
ContributorsBurnett, Rosemary
PublisherUniversity of Limpopo (Medunsa Campus)
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Formatxv, 93 leaves.
RelationAdobe Acrobat Reader, version 6.0

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