Knowledge and practice of universal precautions among doctors and laboratory workers in Central Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

A total of 87 health workers at the Central Hospital, Benin City, participated in this study aimed at finding out the knowledge and practice of universal precautions in 1999. All participants had worked for at least six months in the hospital and included all doctors and laboratory workers. All the respondents completed a self-administered structured questionnaire. The mean ages of the doctors and laboratory workers were 37.5 ± 9.11 and 41.56 ± 7.19 respectively. There were more males in the study (73.4%) than females (26.4%). The respondents had poor knowledge of universal precautions, as only 31 (35.6%) of them had heard about it. There was also poor adherence to the precautions by those who knew of it. We recommend that seminars/workshops be organised for health workers on the universal precautions.



Key Words: Knowledge, practice, universal precautions, doctors, laboratory workers

(Jnl Med. & Biomed Res.: 1(2) 2002: 34-41)