Adherence to Standard Infection Prevention & Control & factors associated among healthcare workers at Juba Teaching Hospital,Juba,South Sudan.

Abstract

Background: Hospital acquired infections such as COVID-19 and Sepsis, among others, have become a serious threat to healthcare workers’ productivity and patient safety in hospitals worldwide. Therefore, healthcare workers’ adherence to infection prevention and control (IPC) practices is the recommended approach to prevent these infections. The study assessed the level of adherence, explored the availability of infection prevention and control (IPC) supplies and determined the factors associated with adherence to standard IPC practices among healthcare workers at Juba Teaching Hospital. Methods: This was a facility based cross-sectional study. A total sample of 168 HCWs were selected by stratified sampling technique at Juba Teaching Hospital. The healthcare workers at the hospital were stratified by profession. The dependent variable was healthcare worker’s adherence to standard infection prevention and control (IPC) practices and independent variables were; level of education, working experience, availability of IPC supplies, IPC policies/guideline, IPC committee and in-service training. Structured questionnaire, key informant and in-depth interview guides were the data collection tools used. Data was analyzed using Stata and then presented into tables, graphs and logistic regression tables. Result: The findings showed that the overall adherence to standard IPC practices was moderate at 62.7% and none adherence was 37.4% respectively. The most available IPC supplies observed at wards were; sharp disposal containers /safety boxes 9 (90%), Hand washing facility 9(90%), and waste disposable containers 9 (90%). The least IPC supplies were; Alcohol hand rub 4(40%), Disposable gloves 3(30%), Ordinary single use syringes 2(20%), Detergent 2 (20%), protective eye wear 1 (10%), face mask 1 (10%), strong gloves 1(10%) and unavailable IPC supplies were; disinfectant (0%), color-coded bins (0%), placenta pit (0%), waste pit with sharps (0%) and waste pit for noninfectious waste (0%) respectively. The findings showed that the factors significantly associated with adherence to standard IPC practices among healthcare workers at JTH were; being married AOR 0.43 [0.21-0.87], education beyond secondary AOR 0.29 [0.11-0.78], IPC committee AOR 2.07 [1.03-3.87] and enough IPC supplies AOR 2.35 [1.11-4.96]. In-service training COR 2.05 [1.09-3.87] and IPC policies / guideline COR 1.91 [1.01-3.65], were also found to be associated with adherence to IPC practices among healthcare workers at Juba Teaching Hospital. Conclusion and Recommendation. Healthcare workers were more likely to adhere to standard IPC practices if they were married, educated beyond secondary, had enough IPC supplies, IPC committee in the hospital, received in-service training and IPC policies/guideline. The South Sudan, Ministry of Health should strengthen IPC committee, provide enough IPC supplies, IPC Policies/guidelines and in-service training to healthcare workers at Juba Teaching Hospital (JTH). Key words: Adherence, Healthcare workers (HCW), IPC practices and Hospital acquired infection.