Current status of hand hygiene practices among primary healthcare workers and its influencing factors

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate the current status and influencing factors of hand hygiene practices among primary healthcare workers， and to provide a reference for improving hand hygiene behavior in primary healthcare institutions.MethodsA self-designed questionnaire was used to conduct a survey among medical staff of seven community health service centers in Jiading District， Shanghai， using a cluster random sampling method. The data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics， reliability and validity tests， correlation analysis， and structural equation model fitting.ResultsA statistical difference in hand hygiene compliance was found among medical staff with varying occupational types and educational levels （P<0.05）， and medical staff in clinical departments exhibited higher levels of hand hygiene compliance （P<0.05）. In the health belief model， among the core variables， healthcare workers’ perceived benefits， perceived barriers， and self-efficacy had a direct impact on hand hygiene behavior， with direct effect values of 0.341， -0.152， and 0.234， respectively. Meanwhile， cues to action and perceived severity of COVID-19 infection indirectly affected hand hygiene behavior， with an indirect effect value of 0.066 and 0.062， respectively.ConclusionHealthcare workers generally exhibit a high degree of hand hygiene compliance， but there are variations in hand hygiene scores among healthcare workers with different characteristics. Enhancing healthcare worders’ perception of benefits， action cues， and self-efficacy while reducing perceived barriers can effectively improve their hand hygiene behavior.

Keywords

• hand hygiene
• healthcare worker
• structural equation model
• health belief model