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Research Article: Infection prevention and control compliance of healthcare workers towards COVID-19 in conflict-affected public hospitals of Ethiopia

Date Published: 2023-12-30

Abstract:
Objective Non-compliance with COVID-19 infection prevention and control (IPC) is one of the global public health problems particularly among those frontline healthcare workers. However, there are no detailed investigations on COVID-19 IPC compliance among healthcare workers in conflict-affected settings. The objective of this research was to assess compliance with COVID-19 IPC measures and determine the factors associated with it among healthcare providers in Ethiopian governmental hospitals affected by conflict. Design A cross-sectional study was carried out within institutional settings. Study setting and period The study was conducted in three public hospitals located in northeastern Ethiopia during the period of March to April 2022. Participants Simple random sampling technique was used to select 325 healthcare workers after proportional allocation was made to each public hospital. Primary outcome measures The primary outcome was non-compliance with COVID-19 IPC. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to identify factors associated with the lack of adherence to the COVID-19 IPC protocol. Results Nearly half (150, 46.2%) of the healthcare workers had non-compliance with COVID-19 IPC protocol. Absence of hand washing soap (adjusted OR (AOR)=2.99; 95% CI 2.46 to 5.76), workload (AOR=2.25; 95% CI 1.33 to 3.84), disruption in the supply of piped water (AOR=1.82; 95% CI 1.11 to 2.99), did not undergo training in COVID-19 IPC (AOR=2.85; 95% CI 1.85 to 4.84), absence of COVID-19 IPC guidelines (AOR=2.14; 95% CI 1.11 to 4.13) and chewing khat (AOR=2.3; 95% CI 1.32 to 3.72) were determinant factors for non-compliance. Conclusions The magnitude of non-compliance with COVID-19 IPC was high. Hospital managers and federal ministry of health should provide regular training on COVID-19 IPC, continuous piped water and personal protective facilities for healthcare workers. Ultimately, improving the security situation in the area would help improve COVID-19 IPC compliance among healthcare workers in these and other similar conflict-affected settings.

Introduction:
Globally, COVID-19 continues to pose a substantial public health challenge, troubling all aspects of human life. 1 According to the Worldometer report, more than 513.6 million cases of COVID-19 and 6.2 million deaths have been reported globally until 2 May 2022. 2 In the African region, over 11.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 252?157 deaths from COVID-19 pandemic were reported until 1 May 2022. 3 Similarly in Ethiopia, during the same period, the confirmed coronavirus cases rose up to 470?581 resulting in…

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