Impact of an intervention programme on knowledge, attitude and practice of healthcare staff regarding pharmaceutical waste management, Gaza, Palestine.
OBJECTIVE
To assess knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of healthcare staff regarding pharmaceutical waste management; and to determine the impact of an educational programme on the KAP survey items.


METHODS
Pre-post-test intervention study.


METHODS
The pre-intervention phase was performed using a sample of 530 out of 1500 healthcare workers. A predesigned interview questionnaire was used to assess KAP. Next, an educational programme was designed and offered to a subsample of 69 healthcare workers. KAP were re-assessed for the programme attendees using the same interview questionnaire, both immediately (post-test) and six months after the end of the programme (follow-up test). The parametric paired sample t-test was used to assess the difference between pre-test and follow-up test results.


RESULTS
Poor knowledge and poor practice levels (scores 50%) detected in the pre-intervention phase were found to improve to satisfactory levels (scores ≥75%) in the follow-up phase. Attitude was found to be positive (score ≥75%) in all phases of the study.


CONCLUSIONS
The educational programme led to a significant improvement in KAP of healthcare staff regarding pharmaceutical waste management (P<0.001).
Environmental Health Specialty, Environmental Health Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt.
M I
MI
Tabash
Environmental Chemistry and Biology Specialty, Environmental Health Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt. Electronic address: rimahamid@yahoo.com.
R A
RA
Hussein
Environmental Health Specialty, Environmental Health Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt.
A H
AH
Mahmoud
Health Education and Behavioural Sciences Specialty, Health Administration and Behavioural Sciences Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt.
M D
MD
El-Borgy
Department of Health Management, Faculty of Public Health, Al-Quds University, Palestine.
B A
BA
Abu-Hamad
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008877:Middle East; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D015397:Program Evaluation; D018505:Waste Management
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations
Environmental pollution; Incineration; Medical waste; Public health; Waste product