COVID-19 unanticipated benefits to hand washing coverage and practices in Health Care Facilities in central Uganda

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Abstract Over 50% of Healthcare-Associated Infections happen due to the hand of healthcare providers. The majority of health care workers end up not washing their hands because of different reasons. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the proportion of handwashing coverage and the associated factors among health care workers in public and private health care facilities in Ndejje division, Makindye Ssabagabo municipality, Wakiso district. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted employing both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A total of 350 health care workers were interviewed using a self-administered structured open-ended paper questionnaire. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) guide and an observation paper checklist were also employed for data collection process. The quantitative data was entered in Epidata and exported to SPSS for descriptive univariate analysis. The qualitative data was analyzed manually by thematic analysis to generate codes, subthemes, and key themes. Our results showed that female health care workers constituted the majority of the respondents 205 (58.6%). The majority 324 (92.6%) of health care workers were from private health facilities. We found out that the proportion of handwashing facilities coverage was 97.7%. Removal of germs 317 (95.5%) was reported as the major reason for washing hands. Health care workers reported that handwashing with soap and water was at times being substituted with the use of a hand sanitizer due to its convenience. The proportion of handwashing was good coupled with positive attitude towards handwashing. Being a nurse was highly associated with washing hands in both private and public health facilities. High hand washing proportion was attributed to the COVID-19 guidelines which sparked adherence to the standard operating procedures. Different stakeholders should sustain this current handwashing which will curb Water, Sanitation and Hygiene related diseases.

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