Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Hand Hygiene among Students and Nurses Staff in Mwanza Tanzania: A Cross-Sectional Hospital-Based Study during Global COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Hand hygiene (HH) is a critical component of infection prevention and control (IPC) which aims at preventing microbial transmission during patient care hence reducing the burden healthcare associated infections (HCAIs). Information on level HH knowledge, attitudes practices among workers (HCWs) from low- middle-income countries scarce. This study determined attitude students staff nurses in Mwanza, Tanzania. Methods: cross-sectional hospital-based was conducted between August October 2020 student 2health centres, 2district hospitals, 1regional referral hospital 1zonal hospital. Self-administered pretested structured questionnaires were used for data collection. All transferred to Microsoft excel spreadsheet cleaning coding, then STATA software version 13.0 analysis. Results: A total 726 aged 18 59 years with median (IQR) age 29(24-38) enrolled. About 3 quarters 76.4% (555/726) had good knowledge as most them 88.3% (641/726) received rigorous IPC trainings COVID-19 pandemic. 42.0% (305/726) participants reported that, action effortless. Majority participants, 81.1% (589/726) practiced hand washing more than rubbing routinely. Being nurse [OR: 0.30, 95%CI: 0.21-1.44, p<.001], working inpatient department 0.38, 0.27-0.55, high education i.e., degree above 1.74, 1.36-2.24, p<.001] having experience 5 2.41, 1.52-3.82, being knowledgeable HH. Conclusion: because they training IPC, notably global