title: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Hand Hygiene among Medical and Nursing Students at a Tertiary Health Care Centre in Raichur, India.
abstract: Background. Hand hygiene is recognized as the leading measure to prevent cross-transmission of microorganisms. Regarding hospital acquired infections, the compliance of nurses with hand washing guidelines seems to be vital in preventing the disease transmission among patients. There is a paucity of studies exploring this subject in Asia. Especially medical and nursing student's knowledge of standard hand hygiene precautions is rarely compared. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 98 medical and 46 nursing students in a tertiary medical college in India. Knowledge was assessed using WHO hand hygiene questionnaire. Attitude and practices were evaluated by using another self-structured questionnaire. Z test was used to compare the percentage of correct responses between medical and nursing students. A P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results. Only 9% of participants (13 out of 144) had good knowledge regarding hand hygiene. Nursing students knowledge (P = 0.023) , attitude (P = 0.023), and practices (P < 0.05) were significantly better than medical students.
authors: Navodaya Medical College, Raichur, Karnataka 584103, India.
authors: Sreejith Sasidharan
authors: SS
authors: Nair
authors: Department of Community Medicine, Navodaya Medical College, Raichur, Karnataka 584103, India.
authors: Ramesh
authors: R
authors: Hanumantappa
authors: Department of Community Medicine, Navodaya Medical College, Raichur, Karnataka 584103, India.
authors: Shashidhar Gurushantswamy
authors: SG
authors: Hiremath
authors: Department of Community Medicine, Navodaya Medical College, Raichur, Karnataka 584103, India.
authors: Mohammed Asaduddin
authors: MA
authors: Siraj
authors: Department of Microbiology, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Science and Research Center, Tiruvalla, Kottayam, Kerala, India.
authors: Pooja
authors: P
authors: Raghunath