Awareness towards Occupation Exposure among Health Care Workers of a Tertiary Care Hospital: A KAP Survey

Background and Objectives: Health care workers are under constant exposure to the risk of ooccupational blood-borne infection, which most of the time can be avoided by observing standard precautions. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of health care workers of a sample tertiary care hospital towards occupational exposure to blood-borne pathogens. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out among health care workers of a 2500 bedded tertiary care hospital. The study instrument was structured and pretested questionnaire designed to measure the knowledge, attitude and practices of the participants towards occupational exposure. Findings: Among the 380 respondents 22.63% gave history of sustaining NSI in the preceding 1 year. The commonest clinical activity to cause NSI among doctors was blood sampling (37.5%) followed by re-capping of needles (31.3%). Although 70.5% of the participants were aware of the immediate step to be followed after NSI, only 47.36% gave partial correct answer to the questions regarding the number of diseases transmitted by NSI, and 44.2% had the correct knowledge about the Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) facilities available in the hospital. Conclusions: The prevention of transmission of blood-borne pathogens among health care workers requires an education-centric approach and a comprehensive infection control protocol along with strict compliance with the practices within the health care delivery system.