Project description:IntroductionHealthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are threats in healthcare settings contributing to increased morbidity, mortality and antimicrobial resistance worldwide. Hand hygiene (HH) is the simplest and most important single intervention to reduce HAIs.Aims/objectivesThis study sought to determine rates of HAIs as well as compliance of HH among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC).MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 227 HCWs (59 doctors, 129 nurses and 39 ward attendants) selected by multistage sampling across 10 hospital wards. Electronic interviewer-administered questionnaire, HH compliance checklist and point prevalence of HAI were done using World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention toolkits, respectively.ResultsOnly 20.33% (n = 12) of doctors, 3.88% (n = 5) of nurses and 2.56% (n = 1) of ward attendants had good knowledge of HH (χ2 = 22.22, P value = 0.01). Among doctors, 11.86% (n = 7), 6.98% (n = 9) of nurses and 2.56% (n = 1) of ward attendants had positive perception towards HH (χ2 = 7.87, P value = 0.25). Of the 174 opportunities for HH observed, compliance rates were 42.37%, 55.81% and 68.97% among doctors, nurses and ward attendants, respectively. Point prevalence of HAI was 16.38%.DiscussionGood knowledge and positive perception about HH were uncommon among doctors, nurses and ward attendants. However, ward attendants had the highest compliance to HH. There was a high prevalence of HAIs in this institution.
Project description:BackgroundHand hygiene (HH) is a fundamental element of patient safety. Adherence to HH among healthcare workers (HCWs) varies greatly depending on a range of factors, including risk perceptions, institutional culture, auditing mechanisms, and availability of HH supplies.AimsThis study aimed to evaluate HH compliance and associated factors among HCWs in selected tertiary-care hospitals in Bangladesh.MethodsDuring September 2020 to May 2021, we conducted non-participatory observations at 10 tertiary-care hospitals using the WHO's '5-moments for hand hygiene tool' to record HH compliance among physicians, nurses and cleaning staff. We also performed semi-structured interviews to determine the key barriers to complying with HH.ResultsWe observed 14,668 hand hygiene opportunities. The overall HH compliance was 25.3%, the highest among nurses (28.5%), and the lowest among cleaning staff (9.9%). HCWs in public hospitals had significantly higher odds of complying with HH practices than those in private hospitals (adjusted odds ratio: 1.73, 95% CI: 1.55-1.93). The odds of performing HH after touching a patient were 3.36 times higher compared with before touching a patient (95% CI: 2.90-3.90). The reported key barriers to performing HH were insufficient supplies (57.9%), skin reactions (26.3%), workload (26.3%) and lack of facilities (22.7%). Overall, observed HH supplies were available in 81.7% of wards for physicians and 95.1% of wards for nurses, however, no designated HH facilities were found for the cleaning staff.ConclusionsHH compliance among HCWs fell significantly short of the standard for safe patient care. Inadequate HH supplies demonstrate a lack of prioritizing, promoting and investing in infection prevention and control.
Project description:We sought to determine the minimum number of observations needed to determine hand hygiene (HH) compliance among healthcare workers. The study was conducted at a referral hospital in South Korea. We retrospectively analyzed the result of HH monitoring from January to December 2018. HH compliance was calculated by dividing the number of observed HH actions by the total number of opportunities. Optimal HH compliance rates were calculated based on adherence to the six-step technique recommended by the World Health Organization. The minimum number of required observations (n) was calculated by the following equation using overall mean value (ρ), absolute precision (d), and confidence interval (CI) (1 - α) [the equation: [Formula: see text]]. We considered ds of 5%, 10%, 20%, and 30%, with CIs of 99%, 95%, and 90%. During the study period, 8791 HH opportunities among 1168 healthcare workers were monitored. Mean HH compliance and optimal HH compliance rates were 80.3% and 59.7%, respectively. The minimum number of observations required to determine HH compliance rates ranged from 2 ([Formula: see text]: 30%, CI: 90%) to 624 ([Formula: see text]: 5%, CI: 99%), and that for optimal HH compliance ranged from 5 ([Formula: see text]: 30%, CI: 90%) to 642 ([Formula: see text]: 5%, CI: 99%). Therefore, we found that our hospital required at least five observations to determine optimal HH compliance.
Project description:IntroductionGood hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers is crucial for preventing healthcare-associated infections. While an extensive amount of research has focused on barriers to compliance with hand hygiene guidelines, there remains a critical gap in understanding the factors contributing to consistently excellent compliance among some individuals. Thus, the main aim of this study is to learn from these "champions" of hand hygiene and identify facilitating factors that enable and sustain high compliance using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF).MethodsIn this qualitative study, we conducted problem-oriented semi-structured interviews with questions based on the 14 domains of the revised TDF. The N = 25 participants included physicians and nurses from three German hospitals. They were selected based on a reported history of excellent hand hygiene compliance.ResultsAll topics discussed by the interviewees could be categorised into the 14 TDF domains. Five TDF domains were particularly prominent: environmental context and resources, behavioural regulation, knowledge, social influences, and skills. The single most important facilitator for good hand hygiene compliance among both physicians and nurses was the construct/code goals (i.e., patient protection and self-protection). Additionally, for physicians, developing hand hygiene as a habit was considered particularly advantageous. Conversely, nurses emphasised that learning correct hand hygiene during their vocational training was especially beneficial for good compliance.ConclusionsThe results highlight the importance of clear goals, habit development, comprehensive training, adequate resources, and a positive culture of communication in promoting good hand hygiene practices. The TDF has been proven to be a suitable model for identifying facilitating factors for hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers.
Project description:BackgroundHealthcare workers experience high job stress, contributing to negative health outcomes and poor patient care. This study aims to assess occupational stress and its associated factors among healthcare workers at a tertiary hospital during COVID-19 pandemic in Kathmandu, Nepal.MethodsA cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted among doctors and nurses in a tertiary hospital. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 368 participants. Bivariate and multiple linear regression analysis identified the predictors associated with occupational stress.ResultsThe mean occupational stress index score was 149.56±22.01. It was significantly higher among female participants (151.59±19.12 vs 144.2±27.6, p=0.004), married individuals (152.06±19.79 vs 147.01±23.86, p=0.028), those with over 1 year of employment duration (152.17±21.28 vs 145.45±22.60, p=0.004), health workers attending more than four night shift a month (152.30±19.44 vs 135.52±28.45, p<0.001), those working in rotating shift (151.68±21.12 vs 142.17±23.57, p=0.006), those working 48 hours or more per week (152.39±19.28 vs 145.97±24.66, p=0.005), those lacking support from other staff (157.81±18.70 vs 148.17±22.25, p=0.003) and those who consumed alcohol (152.14±21.25 vs 147.18±22.49, p=0.031). Multiple linear regression revealed associations with employment duration over 1 year (β=0.174, p=0.001), rotating shift (β=-0.106, p=0.006), night shifts (β=0.251, p<0.001), working hours of 48 hours or more per week (β=0.175, p=0.001), lack of support from other staff (β=0.130, p=0.010) and low-wealth quintile (β=0.161, p=0.006).ConclusionOccupational stress is associated with employment duration, night shift, rotating shift, working hours, support mechanisms and socioeconomic profile among healthcare workers. There is a crucial need to establish evidence-based actions to prevent occupational stress and promote the overall health of healthcare workers.
Project description:BackgroundPromoting hand hygiene compliance should be a priority for health authorities and all healthcare facilities at all levels. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to provide a pooled estimate of hand hygiene compliance and associated factors among healthcare professionals in Ethiopia.MethodsPubMed, Science Direct, EMBASE, the Google search engine, and Google Scholar were used to retrieve studies that were eligible for the study. The searches included all studies published in English prior to July 2021. Using a structured data extraction format, two authors independently extracted the required data. STATA Version 16 software has been used for statistical analysis. To measure the heterogeneity of the studies, the Cochrane Q-test statistics and I2 test were used. Because of the significant heterogeneity, a random-effects model was used.ResultsThe pooled hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers in Ethiopia was 38% (95% CI: 0.16-0.59). According to the study's subgroup analysis, Addis Ababa City administration health workers had the highest hand hygiene compliance, at 73% (95% CI: 0.50-0.96), while SNNP regional state had the lowest, at 9% (95% CI: 0.05-0.13). Presence of hand hygiene promotion (OR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.04-3.24), towel/tissue paper availability (OR: 3.97, 95% CI: 2.09-5.86), having a positive attitude toward hand hygiene (OR: 1.79, 95% CI: 1.28-2.30), having good knowledge about hand hygiene (OR: 3.45, 95% CI: 1.26-5.64), and being trained for hand hygiene (OR:4.97, 95% CI:1.81-8.14) were significantly associated with hand hygiene compliance.ConclusionIn this analysis, hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers in Ethiopia was less than half. Providing hand hygiene promotion, towel/tissue paper presence, having a positive attitude toward hand hygiene, having good knowledge about hand hygiene, and being trained for hand hygiene were important variables for the increment of hand hygiene compliance.
Project description:The German "Clean Hands Campaign" (an adaptation of the WHO "Clean Care is Safer Care" programme) to promote hand hygiene among hospital personnel at Hannover Medical School (MHH, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover), known as Aktion Saubere Hände (ASH), met with initial success. By 2013, however, compliance rates with hygienic hand disinfection in the hospital's ten intensive care units (ICUs) and two hematopoietic stem cell transplantation units (HSCTUs) had relapsed to their initial levels (physicians: 48%; nurses: 56%). The cluster- randomized controlled trial PSYGIENE was conducted to investigate whether interventions tai - lored in ways suggested by research in behavioral psychology might bring about more sustainable improvements than the ASH.The "Health Action Process Approach" (HAPA) compliance model specifies key psychological determinants of compliance. These determinants were assessed among health care workers in the ICUs and HSCTUs of the MHH by questionnaire (response rates: physicians: 71%; nurses: 63%) and by interviews of the responsible ward physicians and head nurses (100%). In 2013, 29 tailored behavior change techniques were implemented in educational training sessions and feedback discussions in the six wards that constituted the intervention arm of the trial, while ASH training sessions were provided in the control arm. The compliance rates for 2014 and 2015 (the primary outcomes of the trial) were determined by nonparticipating observation of hygienic hand disinfection, in accordance with the World Health Organization's gold standard.The two groups did not differ in their baseline compliance rates in 2013 (intervention: 54%, control: 55%, p = 0.581). The tailored interventions led to increased compliance in each of the two follow-up years (2014: 64%, p<0.001; 2015: 70%, p = 0.001), while the compliance in the control arm increased to 68% in 2014 (p<0.001) but fell back to 64% in 2015 (p = 0.007). The compliance increases from 2013-2015 and the compliance rate in 2015 were higher in the intervention arm (p<0.005). This was mainly attributable to the nurses' behavior, as the corresponding parameters for physicians did not differ significantly between the two study arms in stratified analysis.Tailored interventions based on behavioral psychology principles led to more sustainable increases in compliance with hand hygiene guidelines than ASH training sessions did. This was true among nurses, and thus also for hospital ward personnel as a whole (i.e., nurses and physicians combined). Further studies are needed to identify more target group-specific interventions that may improve compliance among physicians.
Project description:SettingTribhuvan University Teaching Tertiary Care Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal, May-October 2019.Objective1) To describe the bacteriological profile, 2) to identify the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pattern, and 3) to find the demographic characteristics associated with the presence of bacterial growth and multidrug resistance (MDR) in adult urine samples undergoing culture and drug susceptibility testing.DesignThis was a hospital-based, cross-sectional study using routine laboratory records.ResultsAmong 11,776 urine samples, 16% (1,865/11,776) were culture-positive, predominantly caused by Escherichia coli (1,159/1,865; 62%). We found a high prevalence of resistance to at least one antibiotic (1,573/1,865; 84%) and MDR (1,000/1,865; 54%). Resistance to commonly used antibiotics for urinary tract infections (UTIs) such as ceftazidime, levofloxacin, cefepime and ampicillin was high. Patients aged ⩾60 years (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] 1.6, 95% CI 1.4-1.7) were more likely to have culture positivity. Patients with age ⩾45 years (45-59 years: aPR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3-1.7; ⩾60 years: aPR 1.4, 95% CI 1.2-1.6), male sex (aPR 1.3, 95% CI 1.2-1.5) and from inpatient settings (aPR 1.4, 95% CI 1.2-1.7) had significantly higher prevalence of MDR.ConclusionUrine samples from a tertiary hospital showed high prevalence of E. coli and MDR to routinely used antibiotics, especially among inpatients. Regular surveillance and application of updated antibiograms are crucial to monitor the AMR situation in Nepal.
Project description:Staphylococcus aureus, an important nosocomial pathogen, is frequently associated with infections in human. The management of the infections by it especially methicillin resistant ones is often difficult because methicillin resistant S. aureus is usually resistant to multiple antibiotics. Macrolide-lincosamide streptogramin B family of antibiotics is commonly used to treat such infections as an alternative to vancomycin.This study was conducted over the period of one and half year from November 2013-April 2015 in Microbiology laboratory of Nepal Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal to find the incidence of different phenotypes of MLSB resistance among S. aureus from clinical samples and their association with methicillin resistance. Two hundred seventy isolates of S. aureus were included in the study. Methicillin resistance was detected by cefoxitin disc diffusion method and inducible clindamycin resistance by erythromycin and clindamycin disc approximation test (D-test).Of the 270 clinical isolates of S. aureus, 25.1% (68/270) were MRSA. Erythromycin and clindamycin resistance was seen in 54.4% (147/270) and 41.8% (113/270) isolates respectively. Resistance to erythromycin and clindamycin were higher in MRSA as compared to MSSA (erythromycin-resistance: 88.2% Vs 39.1% and clindamycin-resistance: 79.4% Vs 41.8%). The overall prevalence of iMLSB and cMLSB phenotype was 11.48% (31/270) and 29.25% (79/270) respectively. Both iMLSB and cMLSB phenotypes predominated in MRSA strains.Detection rate of MRSA in our study shows the necessity to improve in healthcare practices and to formulate new policy for the control of MRSA infections. Clindamycin resistance in the form of iMLSB and cMLSB especially among MRSA emphasizes the need of D-test to be performed routinely in our set up while using clindamycin as an alternative choice to anti-staphylococcal antibiotics like vancomycin and linezolid in the treatment of staphylococcal infections.
Project description:AimAlthough carbapenem is the last-resort drug for treating drug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections, prevalence of carbapenem-resistant bacteria has substantially increased worldwide owing to irrational use of antibiotics particularly in developing countries like Nepal. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the prevalence of carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae and to detect the carbapenemase genes (blaNDM-2 and blaOXA-48) in at a tertiary care hospital in Nepal.Materials and methodsA hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out from June 2018 to January 2019 at the Microbiology Laboratory of Annapurna Neurological Institute and Allied Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal. Different clinical samples were collected and cultured in appropriate growth media. Biochemical tests were performed for the identification of K. pneumoniae. Antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) was performed by the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The modified Hodge test (MHT) was performed to detect carbapenemase producers. The plasmid was extracted by the modified alkaline hydrolysis method. Carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae were further confirmed by detecting blaNDM-2 and blaOXA-48 genes by PCR using specific forward and reverse primers followed by gel electrophoresis.ResultsOut of the total 720 samples, 38.9% (280/720) were culture positive. K. pneumoniae was the most predominant isolate 31.4% (88/280). Of 88 K. pneumoniae isolates, 56.8% (50/88) were multi-drug resistant (MDR), and 51.1% (45/88) were MHT positive. Colistin showed the highest sensitivity (100%; 88/88), followed by tigecycline (86.4%; 76/88). blaNDM-2 and blaOXA-48 genes were detected in 24.4% (11/45) and 15.5% (7/45) of carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae isolates, respectively.ConclusionThe rate of MDR and carbapenemase production was high in the K. pneumoniae isolates. Colistin and tigecycline could be the drug of choice for the empirical treatments of MDR and carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae. Our study provides a better understanding of antibiotic resistance threat and enables physicians to select the most appropriate antibiotics.