Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Health Workers Handling Cytotoxic Drugs: A Study in a University Hospital in Northeastern Thailand
Keywords:
knowledge; attitude; handling cytotoxic drugs; health workersAbstract
Background and objective: Adequate knowledge and proper attitudes alongside correct practice can reduce risk of occupational exposure performing activities related to cytotoxic drugs. This study aimed to assess level of knowledge, attitude and practice of health workers handling cytotoxic drugs at a university hospital in north-eastern Thailand.
Methods: A descriptive study was conducted during May – June 2020. Validated questionnaires were distributed to 253 health workers. The data were analyzed into median, interquartile range, frequency, percentage and Chi-Square. p≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The response rate was 86.6% (219/253) and mostly were female (89.5%). Most were nursing health workers (78.1%) and almost half (47.9%) performed chemotherapy administration. The results showed that 55.7% of participants had satisfactory level of knowledge regarding antineoplastic agents. Answering on the correct personal protective equipment while handling these hazardous drugs was the category of questions with the lowest score (44.6%). More than two-third (67.1%) of participants had a good attitude toward handling cytotoxic drugs, nevertheless only 39.3% had a skilful level and 64.1% reported wearing gloves inappropriately.
Conclusions: Most respondents had a good attitude (67.4%) but, slightly more than half had sufficient knowledge (55.7%) and the overall practice was fair to poor. Incorrect personal protective equipment is the most problematic issue. Hence, educational program and training on safety procedure in all chemotherapy related activities continually are recommended.
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