ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICEOF HEALTHCARE WORKERSABOUT HOSPITALWASTE MANAGEMENT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ZEWDITU AND MCM HOSPITAL, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background: Health care workers produce various types of waste in the course of rendering health care services. Each classification of waste must be disposed according to the prescribed guidelines. Improper disposal of waste may pose a danger to employees, patients and the environment and have become an emerging problem worldwide. Objectives: To determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of health care workers on medical waste disposal and the associated factors at Zewditu and MCM hospitals at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was employed and data was collected through structured self-administered questionnaires and observational checklists and entered into SPSS version 23 for analysis. Correlations and multiple linear regressions were computed. Variables with a value of <0.05 in the multiple linear regression analysis were considered to explain the presence of statistically significant associations. Result: The KAP scores among Zewditu hospital health care workers were higher than that of MCM. Furthermore, the major factors that affect the knowledge of HCPs was identified as the level of education and the practice of HCPs was affected by professional categories of HCPs, availability of gloves and color- coded bins (black, yellow and safety box) by the hospital. Conclusion and recommendation: The level of knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were moderate among Zewditu hospital healthcare workers and inadequate at MCM. Training on waste management should be given to healthcare professionals; regular follow up on the implementation of Infection Prevention (IP) guide should be done, latest waste disposal such as autoclaving and microwaving must be planted to safely dispose biomedical wastes.