Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of health-care workers regarding hand hygiene guidelines in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia: A multicenter study

INTRODUCTION: Hand hygiene is one of the most important ways to reduce the prevalence of nosocomial infections, morbidity, mortality, and health-care costs among hospitalized patients worldwide. OBJECTIVES: We addressed this study to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding hand hygiene guidelines among health-care workers. METHODS: A multicenter cross-sectional study conducted from October to December 2015 including three hospitals in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia. A total of 354 participants completed a self-administered survey on knowledge, attitudes, and practices of hand hygiene. Analysis of variance was used to compare knowledge level across age, gender, profession, and hospitals. All analyses were performed with SPSS, version 21. RESULTS: Overall, the average knowledge score was 63%. There were significant differences in knowledge level across groups. Health-care workers over the age of 30 had higher scores than those younger than 30. Health-care workers at the tertiary hospital had higher scores than those at the secondary hospitals. Nearly, all reported positive attitudes toward hand hygiene as well as adhering to the guidelines regularly. Further, they reported that soap and water were the most common agents for cleaning hands. CONCLUSION: The study findings indicate that there are gaps in the knowledge, which could be addressed with brief and more frequent training sessions, particularly in the secondary hospitals. However, the hand hygiene guidelines are well-known by the staff and well promoted in the hospitals reflected by the positive attitudes. Further improvements in adherence to the hand hygiene guidelines will continue to decrease the likelihood of nosocomial infections.