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Thirunavukkarasu A, Al-Hazmi AH, Dar UF, Alruwaili AM, Alsharari SD, Alazmi FA, Alruwaili SF, Alarjan AM. Knowledge, attitude and practice towards bio-medical waste management among healthcare workers: a northern Saudi study. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13773. [PMID: 35880221 PMCID: PMC9308458 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Health care workers (HCWs) involved in day-to-day care and other healthcare activities play a significant role in biomedical waste (BMW) management. The World Health Organization stated some of the causes for the failure of BMW management, namely, lack of awareness of the health hazards related to BMW and inadequate trained HCWs in BMW management. The present study assessed knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards BMW management among the HCWs in northern Saudi Arabia. Methodology The present study assessed KAP through a self-administered and validated questionnaire. Using a multistage probability sampling method, 384 HCWs from different healthcare facilities participated in this survey. We performed binomial logistic regression analysis to find association between KAP subscales and sociodemographic characteristics. Spearman's correlation test was performed to find the strength and direction of correlation (rho) between KAP scores. Results Of the population studied, high knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were found in 47.1%, 65.1%, and 49.5% of the HCWs, respectively. The present study found that knowledge score was significantly higher among the age group from 30 to 39 years (ref: age less than 30 years: AOR = 2.25, 95% CI [1.05-4.85], p = 0.04) and non- Saudi nationals (ref: Saudi: AOR = 2.84, 95% CI [1.63-4.94], p < 0.001) The attitude score towards BMW management was significantly lower among the HCWs working in tertiary care settings (ref: PHC: AOR = 0.38, 95% CI [0.12-0.69], p = 0.01). Regarding the practice score, the male categories had a significantly higher score (ref: female: AOR = 1.82, 95% CI [1.19 -2.99], p = 0.02), while pharmacist (ref: physicians: AOR = 0.39, 95% CI [0.18-0.58], p = 0.02) and lab technicians (ref: physicians: AOR = 0.31, 95% CI [0.11-0.53], p = 0.02) had a significant lower practice score. The test results revealed a weak positive correlation of knowledge with the attitude scores (rho = 0.249, p = 0.001), and a moderately strong positive correlation was found between attitude and practice scores (rho = 0.432, p = 0.001). Conclusion This study suggests that a regular training program for the HCWs on BMW management is necessary through symposiums, role play, interactive lectures, and other feasible training methods. Furthermore, a multicentric prospective exploratory study is to be conducted in other regions of the KSA to understand the region-specific training needs of HCWs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashokkumar Thirunavukkarasu
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ahmad Homoud Al-Hazmi
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia
| | - Umar Farooq Dar
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia
| | | | | | - Fahad Adel Alazmi
- Medical Student, College of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia
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Mitiku G, Admasie A, Birara A, Yalew W. Biomedical waste management practices and associated factors among health care workers in the era of the covid-19 pandemic at metropolitan city private hospitals, Amhara region, Ethiopia, 2020. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0266037. [PMID: 35385508 PMCID: PMC8985930 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 03/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Biomedical waste management is an important precondition to safeguard the healthcare workers and community members, as well as the environment, from being contaminated with infectious substances. However, biomedical waste management practices during the pandemic era of COVID-19 were unknown. OBJECTIVE This study was aimed to assess biomedical waste management practices and associated factors among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic era at metropolitan city private hospitals, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. METHODS An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted at metropolitan city private hospitals in Amhara Region. Simple random sampling was used to select 431 study participants. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire and observational checklists. The data were cleaned, coded, and entered into the Epi-data version 4.6, and then exported to SPSS version 20. for analysis. Variables with a p-value less than 0.05 were considered as significant factors in multivariable logistic regression analysis and AOR with a 95% confidence level was used to measure the strength of association. RESULTS The proportion of health care workers who had good practices in biomedical waste management was 49.4%. Participants who had MSc education level, [AOR = 4.20, 95% CI (1.01, 17.40)], Bachelor degree [AOR = 3.52, 95% CI (2.13, 5.82)], got training on biomedical waste management [AOR = 4.33, 95% CI (2.71, 6.93)], access to color-coded three bins in their working department [AOR = 6.24.95% CI (3.84, 10.13)] and those who had good attitude (AOR = 2.64, 95% CI (1.65, 4.22), were significantly associated with biomedical waste management practices in private hospitals. CONCLUSION The practice of biomedical waste management in the study area was low. Level of education, taking training on biomedical waste management, availability of color-coded three bins, and attitude of health care workers were significantly associated with biomedical waste management practices. Hence, in-service training is recommended to improve biomedical waste management practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Getasew Mitiku
- Debretabor Health Science College, Debre Tabor, South Gondar, Ethiopia
| | - Amha Admasie
- Department of Environmental Health, Bahir Dar University, School of Public Health, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
| | - Amsalu Birara
- Department of Environmental Health, Bahir Dar University, School of Public Health, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
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Ranjbari M, Shams Esfandabadi Z, Shevchenko T, Chassagnon-Haned N, Peng W, Tabatabaei M, Aghbashlo M. Mapping healthcare waste management research: Past evolution, current challenges, and future perspectives towards a circular economy transition. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2022; 422:126724. [PMID: 34399217 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Improper healthcare waste (HCW) management poses significant risks to the environment, human health, and socio-economic sustainability due to the infectious and hazardous nature of HCW. This research aims at rendering a comprehensive landscape of the body of research on HCW management by (i) mapping the scientific development of HCW research, (ii) identifying the prominent HCW research themes and trends, and (iii) providing a research agenda for HCW management towards a circular economy (CE) transition and sustainable environment. The analysis revealed four dominant HCW research themes: (1) HCW minimization, sustainable management, and policy-making; (2) HCW incineration and its associated environmental impacts; (3) hazardous HCW management practices; and (4) HCW handling and occupational safety and training. The results showed that the healthcare industry, despite its potential to contribute to the CE transition, has been overlooked in the CE discourse due to the single-use mindset of the healthcare industry in the wake of the infectious, toxic, and hazardous nature of HCW streams. The findings shed light on the HCW management domain by uncovering the current status of HCW research, highlighting the existing gaps and challenges, and providing potential avenues for further research towards a CE transition in the healthcare industry and HCW management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meisam Ranjbari
- Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China; Department of Economics and Statistics "Cognetti de Martiis", University of Turin, Turin, Italy; ESSCA School of Management, Lyon, France
| | - Zahra Shams Esfandabadi
- Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy; Energy Center Lab, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | | | | | - Wanxi Peng
- Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China.
| | - Meisam Tabatabaei
- Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China; Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; Biofuel Research Team (BRTeam), Terengganu, Malaysia; Microbial Biotechnology Department, Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII), Agricultural Research, Extension, And Education Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran
| | - Mortaza Aghbashlo
- Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China; Department of Mechanical Engineering of Agricultural Machinery, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.
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Limon MR, Vallente JPC, Cajigal ARV, Aquino MU, Aragon JA, Acosta RL. Unmasking emerging issues in solid waste management: Knowledge and self-reported practices on the discarded disposable masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) 2022; 6:100435. [PMID: 36632241 PMCID: PMC8743242 DOI: 10.1016/j.envc.2021.100435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Revised: 11/28/2021] [Accepted: 12/30/2021] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 global health crisis has resulted in the emergence of a new type of solid waste-inappropriately discarded disposable masks (DMs)-posing serious risks to the public health and to the environment. This study assessed the knowledge-("K") and self-reported practices-("P") of the general public in DM waste management. A researcher-developed instrument was utilized to gather data with a reliability coefficient index of 0.94. The survey was participated in by 13,116 online users. Pearson r and multiple linear regression were performed to test the relationship between the participants' demographic characteristics and their K and P. Results revealed that the participants obtained a weighted mean and standard deviation of 1.15±0.10, which shows that 11,597 or 88.41% are knowledgeable on solid waste disposal and management. The self-reported practices of the participants obtained weighted mean and standard deviation rating of 2.16±0.10, which is interpreted as "Always Practiced". This signifies that the participants adequately practiced the essentials in disposing DMs. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship between K and P with their demographic characteristics on disposing DMs like age, sex, level of education, annual income, and type of residence. The obtained Pearson r=-0.178 (p<.01) indicates that the level of knowledge of the participants is significantly related to the practices they apply in disposing used DMs. As a recommendation, campaigns and interventions on the proper disposal of DMs should be put forward and implemented, utilizing various social media resources and platforms that are conveniently accessible to the general public.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark R Limon
- Technical-Vocational and Livelihood Education Department, College of Teacher Education, Mariano Marcos State University, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte 2900 Philippines
| | - John Paul C Vallente
- Secondary Education Department, College of Teacher Education, Mariano Marcos State University, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte 2900 Philippines
| | - Aris Reynold V Cajigal
- Secondary Education Department, College of Teacher Education, Mariano Marcos State University, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte 2900 Philippines
| | - Marlowe U Aquino
- Science and Technology Park, Mariano Marcos State University, Batac City, Ilocos Norte 2906 Philippines
| | - Jovenita A Aragon
- Early Childhood and Special Needs Education Department, Mariano Marcos State University, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte 2900 Philippines
| | - Rosabel L Acosta
- Secondary Education Department, College of Teacher Education, Mariano Marcos State University, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte 2900 Philippines
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Associations between Indoor Environmental Quality and Infectious Diseases Knowledge, Beliefs and Practices of Hotel Workers in Wuhan, China. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18126367. [PMID: 34208312 PMCID: PMC8296191 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18126367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2021] [Revised: 06/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Knowledge, beliefs, and practices regarding infectious diseases are key elements that ensure practitioners' health and safety. It is important to carry out such a survey in hotels. This study aims to determine the levels of knowledge, beliefs, and practices regarding infectious diseases among practitioners and their associations with the environmental quality of hotels in Wuhan, China. We surveyed infectious disease knowledge, beliefs, and practices of practitioners in 18 hotels and detected these hotels' environment, including physical factors of temperature, humidity, noise, and the indoor air quality of benzene, toluene, xylene, formaldehyde, CO, CO2, the total count of fungi, aerobic plate count, PM10, and PM2.5. 128 practitioners were included, and 28.9% were male. The questionnaire included knowledge, beliefs, and practices regarding infectious diseases. Our study found moderate levels of knowledge and beliefs, and good health practices. People's beliefs toward COVID-19 were correlated significantly with their knowledge (p < 0.05). Beliefs and health practices were correlated significantly with environmental quality (p < 0.05). However, the environmental quality was correlated negatively with the classification of hotels. Conclusively, despite the good health practices of practitioners, the knowledge and beliefs toward infectious diseases need to strengthen. Hotels should emphasize health education in practitioners and the improvement of environmental hygiene. Integrating all three components into a comprehensive environmental promotion program is warranted.
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Kanu S, James PB, Bah AJ, Kabba JA, Kamara MS, Williams CEE, Kanu JS. Healthcare Workers' Knowledge, Attitude, Practice and Perceived Health Facility Preparedness Regarding COVID-19 in Sierra Leone. J Multidiscip Healthc 2021; 14:67-80. [PMID: 33469299 PMCID: PMC7810694 DOI: 10.2147/jmdh.s287156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) are known to spearhead the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, their knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are considered critical to the success of the current COVID-19 response efforts. This study aims to determine HCWs’ KAP toward COVID-19 and assesses their perception of their healthcare facilities preparedness to respond appropriately to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone. Methods We conducted an online cross-sectional study among HCWs (n=516) between 1st May 2020 and 30th June 2020. We collected our data using a self-administered structured questionnaire via email and online social media platforms. We analyzed our data using descriptive statistics and regression analysis (p<0.05). Results Close to three-fourth of HCWs (n=375, 72.7%) were knowledgeable regarding COVID-19. Doctors were more knowledgeable than community health workers and laboratory technicians (AOR= 2.48, 95% CI: 1.16–5.31, p=0.019) regarding COVID-19. Close to two-thirds of HCWs (n=301, 58.3%) HCWs show positive attitudes toward COVID-19. Being male (AOR=2.08, 95% CI: 1.36–3.20, p=0.001) and directly involved in COVID-19 patient care (AOR=3.21, 95% CI: 1.88–5.48, p<0.001) were identified as predictors of positive attitude towards COVID-19. HCWs are generally adhering to COVID-19 safe practices with majority indicating that they regularly wash or sanitize their hands (n=510, 98.8%) and used facemask at point of care (n=499, 96.7%). Majority of HCWs are of the view that their healthcare facilities are ill-prepared to adequately respond to COVID-19 with majority (n= 400, 77.5%) of them stating that their facilities lack enough personal protective equipment. Conclusion HCWs in Sierra Leone showed good knowledge, positive attitude and practice regarding COVID-19. However, HCWs are of the view that their healthcare facilities are ill-prepared to respond adequately to the COVID-19 outbreak. Health authorities and policymakers need to provide the necessary resources to allow HCWs to work in a safe environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sulaiman Kanu
- University of Sierra Leone Teaching Hospital Complex, Connaught Hospital, Freetown, Sierra Leone
| | - Peter Bai James
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.,Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Abdulai Jawo Bah
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.,Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.,Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University Edinburg, Musselburgh, Scotland, UK
| | - John Alimamy Kabba
- Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, Center for Drug Safety and Policy Research, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, People's Republic of China
| | - Musa Salieu Kamara
- University of Sierra Leone Teaching Hospital Complex, Connaught Hospital, Freetown, Sierra Leone
| | | | - Joseph Sam Kanu
- Directorate of Disease Prevention and Control, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Freetown, Sierra Leone
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