Knowledge, attitude and practices of healthcare workers regarding biomedical waste segregation at Mayo Hospital Lahore.

Abstract

Objectives: This study has been designed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of healthcare workers at Mayo Hospital regarding biomedical waste segregation. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Teaching Hospital of King Edward Medical University Lahore, Pakistan. Period: February 2018 to January 2019. Material & Methods: Structured questionnaires in English and Urdu were employed to collect data from healthcare workers (nurses and doctors) on duty in different wards of Mayo Hospital. The demographics, level of knowledge, practices and attitude regarding biomedical waste segregation are reported using descriptive statistics. The comparison of doctors and nurses is done using chi-square. Results: Significantly fewer number of doctors correctly identified the container for bio hazardous waste (p=0.016), while majority (89.4%) of respondents were able to correctly identify the container for sharps and general waste. Significantly more (p=0.00) number of nurses had training in waste segregation as compared with doctors. Majority (95.0%) of nurses acknowledged that guidelines regarding waste segregation were available in their departments, whereas significantly lesser number (64.5%) of doctors acknowledged existence of guidelines at their workplace (p=0.00). 21.3% of respondents claimed to have acquired infection from waste with no statistical difference between the two groups (p=0.19). A minority of the participants agreed that the practices were satisfactory (14.6%) and the required equipment was available (27.7%), yet there was a significant difference between the responses of doctors and nurses with the nurses being more satisfied with the available facilities and equipment (p=0.00) than doctors. Conclusion: The knowledge of the healthcare workers regarding waste segregation is better than their practices, nonetheless there is a dire need to improve the quality of training of these health care workers in and emphases must be put on ensuring that correct practices are adopted.