Knowledge and Use of Disinfection Policy in Some Government Hospitals in South-East, Nigeria

Aims: This study was carried out to evaluate the knowledge and use of disinfection policy in government hospitals in south-east geopolitical zone of Nigeria and to compare the three categories of government hospitals.
Study Design: This was a descriptive, cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Intensive Care Units and Special Care baby Units (SCBU), Departments of Pharmacy (Compounding/Storage Unit), Medical Laboratory Services, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, between February and May 2012.
Methodology: A structured self administered and pre-tested questionnaires were administered to 200 randomly selected healthcare workers which included 40 Pharmacists, 59 Nurses, 55 Resident/General Practice Medical doctors and 46 Medical laboratory scientists, employed full-time in selected government hospitals in southeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria.
Results: The sample size and the response rate were 200 and 100% respectively. About 53.3% of the respondents have heard of the policy, but only 24.5% of them actually know what it means. Only about 22% of all the respondents have applied the policy. The study also reveals that the level of knowledge of disinfection policy is not significantly related to the level of its application by the healthcare workers in the southeast (P-value 0.143, for chi-square and 0.49, for Pearson Correlation). Up to 78% of the healthcare workers have an idea about the different levels of disinfection. The University Teaching Hospitals seem to have better knowledge and use of the policy than the Federal Medical Centres and the General Hospitals.
Conclusion: The knowledge of disinfection policy among the healthcare workers and its application is poor. This is worst in General Hospitals. There is therefore urgent need for a national policy on disinfection and health workers’ education or training on the policy and its application in all hospitals in the nation.