Knowledge and Perception of Hand Hygiene among House Officers in a Tertiary Health Care Centre in Punjab, Pakistan

Background: Hand hygiene is one of the primary measures to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). There is a need to explore the concept of hand hygiene among the medical graduates. Objective: To assess the knowledge and perception of hand hygiene among house officers in a tertiary health care centre. Patients and Methods: This cross sectional survey was conducted in the departments of Paediatrics, Internal Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics / Gynaecology, in affiliated hospitals of King Edward Medical University / Mayo Hospital, Lahore from October to December 2015. World Health Organization's validated hand hygiene knowledge and perception questionnaire was used. A total of 100 fresh medical graduates, who passed their MBBS in March - April 2015, working as house officers were included in the study by non-probability convenient sampling. The data were entered in SPSS 20 for statistical analysis. Chi square test was used for comparison. Results: Of 100 house officers approached, 67 participated in this study. Only 20 (29%) had received formal training in hand hygiene and 40 (59%) practiced routine use of alcohol hand rub. The study did not document satisfactory level of knowledge regarding hand hygiene. Overall, 27 (40.3%) house officers had correct knowledge of main route of transmission of potential harmful germs, while 23 (34.3%) house officers had correct knowledge of main source of germs in HCAI. Only, 41 (61.2%) house officers correctly knew of 20 seconds as the minimum time required for effective alcohol-based hand rub. The house officers were of the opinion that alcohol - based hand rub must be available at health - care facility at each point of care and awareness posters should be displayed at same points as reminders. Actions taken by leaders and managers regarding effective measures towards hand hygiene were considered effective in improving the hand hygiene practices. Conclusion: The unsatisfactory level of knowledge regarding hand hygiene indicates that the house officers require increased emphasis on hand hygiene education and improvement in their current primary training as well as undergraduate curricula.