Adherence to Infection Prevention and Control Measures Among Health-Care Workers Serving in COVID-19 Treatment Centers in Punjab, Pakistan

Objective:Infection prevention and control (IPC) measures are easily adoptable activities to prevent the spread of infection to patients as well as among health-care workers (HCWs). Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated the adherence to IPC measures among HCWs working at coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treatment centers in Punjab, Pakistan. HCWs were recruited by means of convenient sampling through Google Form(R) using the World Health Organization risk assessment tool. All data were analyzed using SPSS 20. Results: A total of 414 HCWs completed the survey (response rate = 67.8%), and majority of them were males (56.3%). Most of the HCWs were nurses (39.6%) followed by medical doctors (27.3%). Approximately 53% reported insufficiency of personal protective equipment (PPE), 58.2% did not receive IPC training and 40.8% did not have functional IPC team at their health facilities. The majority of HCWs (90%) used disposable gloves and N95 facemasks while interacting with COVID-19 patients. Nearly 45% used protective face shields and gowns before providing care to their patients. Hand hygiene practices while touching, and performing any aseptic procedure was adopted by 70.5% and 74.1% of HCWs, respectively. Conclusions: In conclusion, the adherence to IPC measures among Pakistani HCWs working in COVID-19 treatment centers is good despite the limited availability of PPEs. Their practices can be optimized by establishing institutional IPC teams, periodic provision of IPC training, and necessary PPE.

Automated summary

This cross-sectional study evaluated the adherence to infection prevention and control (IPC) measures among healthcare workers (HCWs) working at COVID-19 treatment centers in Punjab, Pakistan. The study found that despite the limited availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), Pakistani HCWs demonstrate good adherence to IPC measures.