Infection Control and Standard Precautions: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Among Undergraduate Medical Students
[1]
Kamal Ariffin Bin Mohd Paiz, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Melaka, Malaysia.
[2]
Chua Joanna, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Melaka, Malaysia.
[3]
Senuri Ovinya Pakshaweera, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Melaka, Malaysia.
[4]
Tha Shanmuga Sundari Thana Sehgaran, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Melaka, Malaysia.
[5]
Keshendran a/l Amkamaran, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Melaka, Malaysia.
Medical students can be exposed to threatening healthcare-associated infections if they are not strictly adhered to the infection control and standard precautions measures. There is limited information regarding knowledge, attitude, and practice among medical students regarding infection control and standard precautions. Our aim is to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice among healthcare students about infection control and standard precautions. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 211 undergraduate Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students from Year 3 till Year 5 at Melaka Manipal Medical College, Malaysia. We purposively selected 250 students attending Year 3 till Year 5 in MBBS course in September 2018. A total of 211 students who were willing to provide written informed consent were included in this study. We collected the data using a validated, self-administered, structured questionnaire which included 37 questions about knowledge regarding infection control and standard precautions, 9 questions about practice regarding infection control and standard precautions and 10 questions about attitude regarding infection control and standard precautions. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square. Among the students, 70.6% students need to improve their knowledge regarding infection control and standard precautions, 66.8% students have a good practice regarding infection control and standard precautions, 79.6% students have a good attitude regarding infection control and standard precautions. Regarding knowledge, there is a significant association between Chinese gender and Year 4 with knowledge regarding infection control and standard precautions. In attitude, there is a significant association between gender and attitude regarding infection control and standard precautions. For practice, there is a significant association between gender and practice regarding infection control and standard precautions. Even though the students have positive practice and attitude towards infection control and standard precaution, a supportive and positive environment is needed to improve knowledge to infection control and standard precautions.
Infection Control, Precautions, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Undergraduate Medical Students
[1]
Infection prevention and control. (2017, April 21). Retrieved from https: //www.who.int/infection-prevention/about/ipc/en/.
[2]
Is, A., & Mo, A. (2012). Knowledge, Awareness and Compliance with Standard Precautions among Health Workers in North Eastearn Nigeria. Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education, 02 (03).
[3]
Essays, UK. (November 2018). Nosocomial Infections: Literature Review. Retrieved from https: //www.ukessays.com/essays/health-and-social-care/nosocomial-infections-review-of-literature-health-and-social-care-essay.php?vref=1.
[4]
A, B., N, S., Mf, Y., Ah, M., Kmm, S., & Nk, S. (2014). The Prevalence of Accidental needle Stick Injury and their reporting among healthcare Workers in orthopaedic Wards in General hospital Melaka, Malaysia. Malaysian Orthopaedic Journal, 8 (2), 6-13.
[5]
Bello, A., Emannuel, B. O., Adegoke, B., & Bello, A. (2011). Nosocomial infections: Knowledge and source of information among clinical health care students in Ghana. International Journal of General Medicine, 571.
[6]
Kulkarni, V., Papanna, M., Mohanty, U., Ranjan, R., Neelima, V., Kumar, N.,... Unnikrishnan, B. (2013). Awareness of medical students in a medical college in Mangalore, Karnataka, India concerning infection prevention practices. Journal of Infection and Public Health, 6 (4), 261-268.
[7]
Barikani A, Afaghi A. Knowledge, attitude and practice towards standard isolation and precautions among Iranian medical students. Global Journal of Health Science 2012; 4 (February (2): 142—6.
[8]
Beltrami EM, Williams IT, Shapiro CN, Chamberland ME. Risk and management of blood-borne infections in healthcare workers. Clinical Microbiology Reviews 2000; 13 (July (3): 385—407.
[9]
Motamed N, BabaMahmoodi F, Khalilian A, Peykanheirati M, Nozari M. Knowledge and practices of health care workers and medical students towards universal precautions in hospitals in Mazandaran Province. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 2006; 12 (September (5): 653—61.
[10]
McCarthy, G. M., & Britton, J. E. (n. d.). A Survey of Final-Year Dental, Medical and Nursing Students: Occupational Injuries and Infection Control. Journal of Canadian Dental Association.
[11]
P. B., M. G., & I. B. (july 2014). Knowledge and Source of Information among Health Care Students on Nosocomial Infections. International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education (IJHSSE), 1 (7), 46-51.
[12]
Elliott, S. K. F., Keeton, A., & Holt, A. (2005). Medical students’ knowledge of sharps injuries. J Hosp Infect, 60, 374-377.
[13]
Askarian, M., Honarvr, B., Tabatabaee, H. R., & Assadian, O. (2004). Knowledge, practice and attitude toward standard isolation precaution in Iranian medical students. J Hosp Infect, 58, 292-296.
[14]
Koenig, S., & Chu, J. (1993). Senior medical students’ knowledge of universal precautions. Acad Med, 68, 372-374.
[15]
Mann, C. M., & Wood, A. (2006). How much do medical students know about infection control? J Hosp Infect, 64, 366-370.
[16]
Abdullah Khubrani, Meshal Albeshar, Abdulah Alkahtani, Faisal Alamri, Masjid Alshamrani, Emad Masuadi, Knowledge and information sources on precautions and infection control of health sciences students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Journal of Infection and Public Health, Volume 11, Issue 4, 2018, 546-549.
[17]
Tavolacci, M., Ladner, J., Bailly, L., Merle, V., Pitrou, I., & Czernichow, P. (2008). Prevention of Nosocomial Infection and Standard Precautions: Knowledge and Source of Information Among Healthcare Students. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 29 (7), 642-647.
[18]
Unakal CG, Nathaniel A, Keagan B, Alexandria B, Lauralee B, Varun C, et al. Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards infection prevention among healthcare workers in Trinidad and Tobago. Int J Community Med Public Health 2017; 4: 2240-7.
[19]
Tenna A, Stenehjem E, Margoles L, Kacha E, Blumberg H, Kempker R. Infection Control Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among Healthcare Workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2013; 34 (12): 128996.
[20]
MD (2008) Assessment of knowledge, attitude, practice of health care workers on universal precaution. Ethiopia public Association 4: 20-7.
[21]
World Health Organization. Glove Use Information Leaflet, 2009.
[22]
Yakob E, Lamaro T, Henok A (2015) Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Infection Control Measures among Mizan-Aman General Hospital Workers, South West Ethiopia. J Community Med Health Educ 5: 370.
[23]
Hunt DCE, Mohammudally A, Stone SP, Dacre J. Hand hygiene behaviour, attitudes and believes in first year clinical medical students. J Hosp Infect. 2005; 59 (4): 371–373.
[24]
Lehmann R, Bosse HM, Huwendiek S. Blended learning using virtual patients and skills laboratory training. Med Educ. 2010; 44 (5): 521–522.
[25]
Pereira JA, Pleguezuelos E, Meri A, Molina-Ros A, Molina-Tomas MC, Masdeu C. Effectiveness of using blended learning strategies for teaching and learning human anatomy. Med Educ. 2007; 41 (2): 189–195.
