Background: Hand hygiene is considered one of the most important infection control measures for preventing health care-associated infections. Although the techniques involved in hand hygiene are simple, compliance with hand hygiene recommendations is poor worldwide.
Objectives: We sought to perform a knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) study on hand hygiene among medical residents at Imam Hossein hospital, Tehran, Iran.
Patients and methods: This cross-sectional KAP study was conducted among medical residents in Imam Hossein hospital, Iran, 2013. All medical residents from different wards were invited to participate in this study (270 in total). The world health organization questionnaires and an observational checklist were used to collect data. The χ(2) test and the Fisher exact test were utilized to analyze the qualitative variables. Since the quantitative variables had no normal distribution, the Mann-Whitney test and the Kruskal-Wallis method were employed. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The data were analyzed using SPSS, version 17.
Results: The mean overall score of the residents' knowledge was 14.2 ± 2.6 (mean ± SD). The residents received weak scores in attitudes and practices. Forty-nine percent (n = 124) of the residents responded to the questions on attitudes toward hand hygiene, and only 20.16% (n = 25) managed to identify the correct answer. Moreover, 3.1% (n = 8) of the residents adhered to the 8 standard steps, 12.1% (n = 31) washed their hands for 20 - 30 seconds, and only 2 residents observed the sequences of hand hygiene. Additionally, none of the residents performed hand washing with available means (water and hand-washing liquid) in the morning visit hours.
Conclusions: Concerning hand hygiene, the residents had moderate knowledge but overall poor attitudes and practices. The present study underscores the need for further improvement in the existing training programs to address the gaps in KAP regarding hand hygiene.
Keywords: Hand Hygiene; Iran; KAP Study; Medical Residents.