Knowledge Health Care and Practice of Physicians, Nurses and Traditional Providers about Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Six Egyptian Governorates | ||||
| The Egyptian Journal of Community Medicine | ||||
| Article 5, Volume 33, Issue 4, October 2015, Page 51-65 PDF (355.33 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejcm.2015.697 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Hepatitis C is a major health problem in Egypt, with 8 out of each 10 new cases occurs in hospitals. Health care workers are at high risk of contracting hepatitis C and transmitting it to their patients. Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of health care workers about hepatitis C virus infection transmission and prevention.Methods: A descriptive cross sectional survey was conducted in six Egyptian governorates including randomly selected physicians, nurses and traditional providers. An interview questionnaire was conducted to HCWs to assess their socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge about cause of HCV, symptoms, transmission and prevention. An observational checklist was designed to assess infection control practices of physicians and nurses. Results: Mean knowledge score of physicians was (36± 5.6) out of 44 with mean practice score (5± 3.9) out of 9. The mean knowledge score of nurses was (29.6 ± 6.2) out of 41 and mean practice score (3.49± 3.5) out of 7, while the knowledge score of the traditional providers was 25.9± 5.8 out of 40. The knowledge and practice score were positively correlated with attendance of infection control courses. Correct knowledge about contaminated needles as a mode of transmission was 93.7% for physicians, 72.7% for nurses, and 3% for traditional providers. There was statistically significant difference between the groups regarding knowledge score with the traditional providers having the lowest knowledge.Conclusion: The percentage of correct knowledge was higher among physicians than nurses, while the traditional providers had the lowest knowledge, with some gaps which need to be strengthened through infection control courses. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| hepatitis C; Knowledge; Practice; Physicians; Nurses; traditional providers; Egypt | ||||
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