ความรู้ ทัศนคติ และการปฏิบัติในการป้องกันการแพร่กระจายเชื้อในโรงพยาบาลของญาติผู้ป่วย

Abstract

Hospital-acquired infections are a major contributor to severe illnesses and death in patients. A relative of a patient is a person who has close contact with the patient and has the opportunity to be exposed and transmit microorganisms in the hospital. This descriptive correlational study aimed to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of relatives regarding infection transmission prevention in a hospital, and to study the relationship between the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of relatives regarding infection transmission prevention in a hospital. The participants were 285 relatives of patients who visited and provided care for patients in medical units of a tertiary care hospital from November 2020 to May 2021. The research instrument was a questionnaire consisting of four parts: demographic data, knowledge of infection transmission prevention in a hospital, attitudes towards infection transmission prevention in a hospital, and practices of infection transmission prevention in a hospital among relatives of patients. The content validity of the questionnaire was examined by six experts. The content validity index was .95, .98, and .96 respectively. The reliability of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices parts of the questionnaire were .82, .81, and .80 respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The relationship between knowledge, attitudes, and practices of infection transmission prevention in a hospital among relatives of patients was analyzed using the Spearman correlation coefficients. The research findings showed that the participants had knowledge of infection transmission prevention in a hospital at a high level with a median score of 22 out of 25 points. The samples had attitudes regarding infection transmission prevention at a high level with a median score of 64 out of 80 points, and practice was at a moderate level with a median score of 38 out of 60 points. It was also found that the participants’ knowledge and attitudes regarding infection transmission prevention in a hospital among relatives of patients were positively correlated at a low level with a statistical significance of .01 (r = .384). The knowledge and practices of the participants regarding infection transmission prevention were positively correlated at a very low level with a statistical significance of .01 (r = .144), while their attitudes and practices were positively correlated at a very low level with a statistical significance of .01 (r = .130). The results of this research can be used as baseline information and guidance on planning to promote knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding infection transmission prevention among relatives of patients in hospitals under the Ministry of Public Health.