| dc.description.abstract | Background: The necessity for infection control in health care facilities is a result of the
recognized need to prevent Health care associated infections (HCAIs) not only among
patients but also among health care workers. This is because of the predisposition to
occupational exposure to a number of infections substances while in the line of duty.
Occupational exposure to blood can result from per-cutaneous (needle stick or other sharps
injury) and mucocutaneous injury (splash of blood or other body fluids into the eyes, nose, or
mouth), or blood contact with non-intact skin. This therefore calls for utmost compliance to
Standard Infection control precautions. Compliance with these standard precautions has been
shown to reduce the risk of exposure to blood and body fluids.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the determinants of compliance to
standard infection control precautions among health care workers at Busia health center IV –
Busia municipality, Busia District.
Method: The study adopted a health facility based cross-sectional design. The study was
carried out in Busia Municipality, Busia district. Busia health center IV was purposively
sampled. At the health center, consecutive sampling was used to sample the respondents
(health workers). Data was collected through structured interviews by the researcher and the
research assistants. A structured questionnaire with closed ended and a few open-ended
questions were used to collect the data. The data from the completed questionnaires was
cleaned, re-coded and entered into the computer using the statistical package for social
sciences (SPSS) version 20 Windows for analysis.
Results: It was found that the majority of the respondents were compliant to standard
infection control precautions (n = 24, (60%).
Of the health worker related characteristics; the duration of working as health care personnel
was the only one which has a statistically significant relationship with compliance to standard
infection control precautions (X 2 = 7.839, P = 0.025).
Of the health facility related characteristics; the provision of staff with training in
occupational health and safety issues, such as safe patient-handling techniques was the only
one which has a statistically significant relationship with compliance to standard infection
control precautions (X 2 = 10.940, P = 0.001).
Conclusion: Compliance to standard infection control precautions among health workers at
Busia health center IV is moderate, with 6 out of every 10 health workers being compliant.
Health worker characteristics and health facility factors determine this level of compliance in
equal measure. | en_US |
