Knowledge of standard precautions among healthcare professionals at a Teaching Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan

Background and Aim: Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are infections acquired by patients during their hospital stay which they did not have previously. This also includes infections acquired by healthcare professionals while managing infected patients. Since both healthcare professionals and patients can be a source of spreading infections across there is a need of practicing standard precautions religiously, to minimize this risk. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of healthcare professionals working at The Indus Hospital, a tertiary care hospital of Karachi, Pakistan. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2017 and July 2018. 205 employees working at The Indus Hospital, Karachi were recruited in this study. A self-made questionnaire based on CDC guidelines was administered to the participants and their responses were recorded. Results: Among all participants, nearly two-thirds (70%) had a very good knowledge of the use of standard precautions, 19.5% had good knowledge, and 12.2% had average/below average knowledge. Of those having very good knowledge, most of them were doctors (60%). Older age groups had more knowledge than the younger age groups. Conclusion: Our study concluded that among different healthcare workers, the nurses had less knowledge as compared to doctors. There was a significant association found between the age of the healthcare professionals and the information he/she has on the standard precautions. Improving the knowledge of doctors and nurses would help in breaking the chain of nosocomial infections and will decrease the burden of infectious diseases on our society.