Factors Affecting Adherence to Infection Control Measure Among Health Care Workers in Uganda:

Abstract

Background; Hospital acquired infections are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Infection prevention and control practices are important in improving the quality of health care services. Objectives; the study was conducted with the main objective to determine the factors affecting adherence to infection control measures among health care workers in fort portal regional referral hospital(FRRH). Specific objectives were to assess the operational practices affecting adherence to infection control measures, these involved proper hand hygiene, and proper use of personal protective equipment;-to determine the individual factors affecting adherence to infection control measures and finally to determine the facility factors affecting adherence to infection control measures among health care workers in FRRH. Methods A cross sectional study was done. Data was collected using a questionnaire and an observation checklist to determine compliance to hand hygiene, use of personal protective equipments and availability of materials used for infection control.quantitave data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16.while qualitative data was analyzed thematically. Results A total of 133 respondents were involved in the study.14.3%were medical doctors, 11.3%were clinical officers, 57.1% were nurses and midwives.17.1% were laboratory workers. According to observation method, majority (90.2%) of the HCWs practiced hand hygiene after any procedure than before (50.4). gloves, clinical coats and aprons were frequently used by HCWs.face masks and eye protection were the least used PPEs.