An Assessment of the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Toward Standard Precautions Among Health Workers From a Hospital in Northern Cyprus

BACKGROUND: The objective was to assess the knowledge level, attitude, and practice of health care workers towards standard precautions, and to identify the related factors. Furthermore, it was attempted to identify the proportion of having the experience of needle stick injuries (NSIs) and associated factors among participants. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a teaching hospital among 233 health workers using a self-administrated questionnaire. The questionnaire included eight knowledge items, seven practice items, and five attitude items. Based on the mean score of each category, responses were grouped into “satisfactory” and “unsatisfactory”. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants 32.95 (SD ± 9.70) and 62.2% of them were women. 57.5% of the staff had a satisfactory level of correct knowledge (>5 correct answers), 37.3% had a satisfactory positive attitude (>3 correct answers), and 30.9% had a satisfactory practice (>3 correct answers) towards standard precautions. The occupation was one of the predictors as doctors were less likely to have satisfactory knowledge and practice compared to nurses (OR = 0.269, 95% CI: 0.10–0.70 and OR = 0.248, 95% CI: 0.08–0.77, respectively). Out of 174 participants, 31.6% of them reported experiencing NSIs and support staff were 71% less likely to experience NSIs compared to nurses & paramedics. CONCLUSION: The findings revealed a substandard adherence of standard precautions among participants, which highlighted the necessity of the provision of a periodic, tailored training program based on the occupation and risk exposure.