A cross-sectional study regarding Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of hand washing among health care providers in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Tripura

Introduction:- Infection prevention and control is an integral component of health care delivery in any setting to reduce risks for morbidity and mortality in patients and care givers at all levels. The practice of hand hygiene by health care workers, through the use of either soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, is widely considered to be the most important and effective means of preventing health care – associated infections. Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude and practices of health care providers regarding hand washing.  Materials and methods:- An institutional based cross sectional study was carried out in outdoor patient, indoor ward among 193 health care providers (doctors, nursing staffs, OT assistants, laboratory technicians, ward boys and ward girls) in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Tripura from September – October 2017. A pre-tested questionnaire was used as study tool to collect information on knowledge, attitude and practices about hand washing. Result:- Majority (73.6%) of the populations was among 18-25 years age group with a female predominance (70.5% females) and most of them were Hindu (94.5%). Most of them (97.5%) know about the importance of hand washing. Around (48.3%) wash hand with soap followed by liquid hand wash (44%) that showed (91%) washed hands with soap and water. Conclusion:-The current study revealed the knowledge, attitude and absence of sufficient practice of hand washing among health care providers. Future studies in this context are recommended to further determine the factors responsible for these lacunae. Also there is a need to educate the health care workers about hand washing practices and to periodically train them about the six steps of hand washing.