The influence of religious and cultural beliefs on hand hygiene behaviour in the United Arab Emirates

Ng Wai Khuan; Ramon Z Shaban; Thea van de Mortel

doi:10.1016/j.idh.2018.07.004

The influence of religious and cultural beliefs on hand hygiene behaviour in the United Arab Emirates

Infect Dis Health. 2018 Dec;23(4):225-236. doi: 10.1016/j.idh.2018.07.004. Epub 2018 Aug 28.

Authors

Ng Wai Khuan¹, Ramon Z Shaban², Thea van de Mortel³

Affiliations

¹ Nursing Division, Mafraq Hospital, P.O. Box 2951, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery & Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: nkhuan@seha.ae.
² Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery & Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; Nursing, Midwifery and Clinical Governance Directorate, Western Sydney Local Health District, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: ramon.shaban@sydney.edu.au.
³ Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Health Sciences Building (N48), 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Qld, 4111, Australia; School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Clinical Sciences 2 Building (G16), Parklands Drive, Southport, Qld, 4215, Australia. Electronic address: t.vandemortel@griffith.edu.au.

PMID: 38715292
DOI: 10.1016/j.idh.2018.07.004

Abstract

Background: Behavioural theory is crucial to develop effective hand hygiene interventions. While studies have explored the behavioural determinants of hand hygiene in healthcare workers (HCWs) using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), none of these have incorporated religious and cultural beliefs about hand hygiene behaviour. This study aimed to explore HCWs' and Islamic scholars' perceptions of the religious and cultural beliefs influencing hand hygiene behaviours in the United Arab Emirates.

Methods: A mixed methods design employed interviews with Islamic scholars, nurses, doctors and allied health professionals, followed by survey.

Results: Six themes related to standard TPB variables and six themes related to religious and cultural beliefs emerged. 349 participants (26.1%) responded to the survey: 171 (49%), 111 (31.8%) and 67 (19.2%) were from nurses, doctors and allied health professionals respectively. Direct logistic regression revealed the strongest predictors of alcohol-based hand rubbing were cultural beliefs (OR = 1.15; p < 0.001), followed by attitudes (OR = 0.87; p < 0.001), when controlling for other factors in the model.

Conclusion: Addressing determinants related to cultural beliefs and attitudes and exploring alcohol-based hand rub use using a TPB model with integrated cultural beliefs is an important strategy to improve compliance with alcohol-based hand rubbing behaviour.

Keywords: Cultural beliefs; Hand hygiene; Interview; Religious beliefs; Survey; Theory of planned behaviour.