Using the theory of planned behavior to identify predictors of handwashing among Iranian healthcare workers

The incidence of healthcare associated infections in a surgical ward in Shiraz has been established as 18% with associated costs of approx US150,000. Healthcare workers (HCWs) had acceptable levels of knowledge and attitude about hand hygiene but poor self-reported practices. We used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to identify predictors of handwashing to underpin a theory-driven intervention.