Standard precaution practice and associated factors among health professionals working in Addis Ababa government hospitals, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study using multilevel analysis

OBJECTIVES: Occupational exposure to blood and body fluids is a major risk factor for the transmission of infections to health professionals in developing countries like Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess standard precaution practices (SPPs) and its associated factors among health professionals working at Addis Ababa government hospitals. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 772 health professionals working at eight government hospitals in Addis Ababa, 2015. The multistage sampling technique was used to select study participants. Health professionals who were directly participating in screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow-ups of patients were studied. SPPs by health professionals were determined by a self-rated response to a 30-item Likert scale. A respondent would be graded as ‘good’ compliant for the assessment if they scored at least the mean of the total score, or would be considered as poor compliant if they scored less. To take the hierarchical structure of the data into account during analysis, multilevel binary logistic regressions were used. The intraclass correlation coefficient was calculated to evaluate whether variations in score were primarily within or between hospitals. RESULT: Out of the participants, 50.65% had good SPPs. At the individual level, attitude, age and educational status were found to be important factors of SPPs. Controlling individual-level factors, applying regular observations (adjusted OR (AOR) 1.82; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.76), providing sufficient materials (AOR 1.53; 95% CI 1.03 to 2.28) and weak measures on reported incidences (AOR 0.49; 95% CI 0.30 to 0.8) were also hospital-level factors associated with SPPs. CONCLUSION: SPPs in the healthcare facilities were found to be so low that both patients and health professionals were at a significant risk for infections. The finding suggests the need for optimising individual-level and hospital-level precautionary practices.