| dc.description.abstract | Clinical waste is a leading cause of death globally due to the increasing number of infectious diseases. Clinical wastes are generated by health facilities and may cause infection to any person coming in contact with it. Human tissue, blood or other body fluids, excretion, drug or pharmaceutical products, syringes and needles may be hazardous to persons coming in contact if not properly managed. This study aimed at assessing clinical waste management factors associated with healthcare acquired infections among HealthCare Workers in Kisumu County, Kenya. This study adopted a descriptive study design, in which 278 healthcare workers were selected using stratified random sampling to participate. Self-administered questionnaire was used for quantitative data and qualitative data was collected through key informant interview. Fishers exact test was used to determine the distribution of clinical waste management knowledge and practice factors among healthcare workers .Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between clinical waste management factors and healthcare acquired infections among healthcare workers. Statistically significant level was considered at p <0.05. Half of the participants 143 (51.4%) were females, while majority 125 (45%) were between 36-50 years of age. Inadequate knowledge on categories of clinical waste generated [OR = 2.153 (1.287 – 3.603), p value =0.003] and inadequate knowledge on infection associated with clinical waste management generated [OR = 2.120 (1.291 – 3.481), p value =0.003].Containers were suitably located 1.554(0.922-2.618, p value 0.098 and the availability of colour coded bin liners [OR=0.791(0.438-1.427),p value =0.438 ] . Absence of clinical waste management committee [OR=1.565(1.055-2.571), p value =0.036] and not using personal protective equipment when handling patient resulted [OR=2.058(1.215-3.484),p value = 0.007].As a result this bad practice increases the likelihood of healthcare workers acquiring infection by almost half[OR=1.984(1.135-3.460), p value = 0.006].Approval was sought from Maseno University Ethics Review committee and written informed consent was obtained from the respondents. Conclusion ;Knowledge factors on categories of clinical waste generated, colour coding categories of clinical waste generated, infections associated with clinical waste management and categories on clinical waste generated were found to be significant in this study. The research findings will help the hospitals in better performance on clinical waste management | en_US |
