Practices of Medical Students Regarding Hygiene in Hospital Settings

Abstract

Background: Proper hygiene prevents healthcare-associated infections and the spread of antibiotic resistance. Hand hygiene is paramount in preventing nosocomial infections. Good hygiene is also crucial when it comes to white coats and Operation Theater (OT) attire to prevent the transmission of hospital-acquired infections. This study was designed to determine medical students’ practices regarding hygiene in hospital settings.
Methodology: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out at King Edward medical university, Lahore between March to September 2018. A sample size of 254 was collected by simple random sampling. After receiving approval from IRB, a questionnaire with questions regarding hygiene in the hospital settings, hand hygiene, OT dress hygiene, and whitecoat hygiene, was distributed among the students. The percentage of students practicing good or bad OT dress and whitecoat hygiene practices was found by averaging the students who scored good or bad in individual practices.
Results: Out of 254 students 107(42.1) were males while 147(57.9%) were females. Among the respondents, 164 (64.6%) said that they strictly practiced hygiene measures in hospital settings. 44.5% said that hygiene in Mayo Hospital was at a basic hand hygiene level. On average, 166 (65%) students had good OT dress hygiene practices while 88 (35%) had poor practices, 141 (55.5%) students had good whitecoat hygiene practices while 113 (44.5%) had poor practices. 74% of the students wore their whitecoats only in the hospital while 26% also wore them outside. 47.6% changed their whitecoats within a year, 39.4% did it after a year and 11% did it after 2-3 years.
Conclusion: Hand Hygiene practices were not satisfactory among the students and there was an inadequate supply of alcohol-based hand rubs, single-use towels, and soaps in the hospital. Many students wore their white coats outside the hospital as well. Among the undergraduates the 3rd year students were found to be least careful in wearing whitecoats outside hospital premises.