Health professionals’ attitude and associated factors toward cytotoxic drug handling in University of Gondar specialized hospital: Institution-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Studies have shown that cytotoxic drugs are dangerous to health care workers. Health care professionals’ attitude to cytotoxic drugs is vital to apply safety protocols in the prevention of cytotoxicity. The current study aimed to assess health professionals’ desirable attitude and associated factors toward cytotoxic drugs handling in the University of Gondar Specialized Hospital. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 412 health professionals from June to August 2019. Simple random sampling was used to select participants and a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Epi Info and SPSS 20 were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Variables with a p value < 0.05 were declared as determinants. Results The number of health professionals included was approximately 412. The mean age of participants was 29.9 ± 5.4 years. The proportion of participants with desirable attitude toward cytotoxic drugs handling was 224 (54.4%) (95% confidence interval: 51.95–56.85). Male (adjusted odds ratio = 1.69, 95% confidence interval:[1.08–2.65]), work experience of 5–8 years (adjusted odds ratio = 1.92, 95% confidence interval: [1.10–3.34]), weekly working hours of 44–55 (adjusted odds ratio = 2.25, 95% confidence interval: [1.02–4.96]), medium work stress (adjusted odds ratio = 1.67, 95% confidence interval: [1.01–2.69]), and good practice of cytotoxic drug handling (adjusted odds ratio = 1.67, 95% confidence interval: [1.04–2.67]) were significantly associated with the attitude of health professionals. Conclusion A significant proportion of health care workers did not have desirable attitude to handle cytotoxic drugs. Thus, strategies are suggested to improve the positive attitude of health professionals to cytotoxic drug handling. Female health professionals, those who had work experience of less than 2 years and those with higher work stress demand special attention.