Abstract

THE KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICE OF UNIVERSAL PRECAUTION AMONG RURAL PRIMARY HEALTH CARE WORKERS IN ENUGU SOUTHEAST NIGERIA.

Agu Polycarp Uchenna*, Ogboi Sonny Johnbull, Ezugwu Euzebus Chinonye, Okeke Tochukwu Christopher, Aniebue Patricia Nonye

ABSTRACT

Background: Universal Precaution is indispensable in preventing blood borne infections, therefore adequate knowledge and optimum practice should be ensured in our healthcare facilities. There is a need to periodically assess the level of this knowledge and practice amongst the health workers. This study, therefore, assessed the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of universal precaution amongst the rural primary health care workers in Enugu State, Nigeria. Methodology: A cross sectional descriptive study was carried out using a multistage sampling technique to select the healthcare workers. The first stage was selecting cluster of 5 LGAs out of 17 LGAs in Enugu state while the second stage was the random selection of 10 Primary Health Centres from each of the 5 selected LGAs in the cluster. All the consenting health workers from these centres were interviewed using pretested structured self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed and reported using appropriate tables and charts. Results: The mean age (SD) of the respondents was 34 ± 2.3. Out of the 300 healthcare workers interviewed, 0nly 18% had adequate knowledge, 88.3% had a positive attitude, while 19.7% exhibited optimum practice. The CHOs had better knowledge than the Nurses/Midwives, CHEWs and Orderlies, however, the Nurses/Midwives had better practice, compared to CHOs, CHEWs and Orderlies. Having undergone training in universal precaution was a significant determinant of both adequate knowledge and optimum practice. Conclusion. There was low knowledge and poor practice of universal precaution resulting from poor training and inadequate supply of personal protective equipment.

Keywords: Universal precaution, Enugu, primary health care.