Abstract
Introduction
Blood-borne infections (BBIs) is a dangerous occupational hazard of healthcare workers in Nigeria. BBIs considered in this study includes: Syphilis, Hepatitis B, and HIV infections. Ignorance of BBIs among healthcare worker can jeopardize the life of healthcare workers in South-South Nigeria. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the level of awareness and knowledge of BBIs among healthcare workers in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State of Southern Nigeria.
Materials and Methods
330 health workers such as Clinicians, Laboratory Scientist and nurses selected from 47 health facilities within Etsako west Local Government Area participated in the study. Quantitative method of data collection was carried out using a pretested structured questionnaire that includes open ended and close ended response format. Questionnaires were sorted, and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21.0 software. Univariate and Bivariate analysis was done to determine variables and association between variables using 11 questions to assess knowledge under four domains viz; Definition, mode of transmission, prevention and types of BBI. For each domain, a score of ‘1’ was awarded for correct answer and ‘0’ for a wrong answer.
Results: 212 (75.4%) of health workers had a good knowledge of BBIs while 69 (24.6%) had poor knowledge of BBIs in Etsako west LGA in Edo state of Southern Nigeria.
Conclusion
Level of awareness among categories of health workers was in this order: Clinicians, Laboratory Scientist, Nurses. Level of awareness of BBIs was directly proportional to educational qualifications in Etsako West Local Government Area.