Probl Hig Epidemiol 2016, 97(3): 229-235pl

Knowledge, practice and attitudes regarding hand hygiene among medical and dental students

Janusz Kasperczyk, Wioletta Szczurek, Dawid Szczurek, Jadwiga Jośko-Ochojska

Katedra i Zakład Medycyny i Epidemiologii Środowiskowej, Wydział Lekarski z Oddziałem Lekarsko-Dentystycznym w Zabrzu, Śląski Uniwersytet Medyczny w Katowicach

Summary
Introduction. Medical personnel´s hands are an important source of nosocomial infections. The safety of the patients and staff depends on proper hygiene.
Aim. The assessment of students´ knowledge of proper hand-washing and disinfecting techniques and their uses in the daily practice.
Material and method. An anonymous survey was conducted among 448 students, including 276 of the medical (IV-VI year) and 172 of the dental division (III-V year).
Results. 73% of the medical and 47% of the dental students indicated the hands of the medical personnel as the most important cause of the spread of nosocomial infections. Only 33% of the medical students would always, and 49% would usually wash their hands before examining the patient. Significantly more - 67% of the dental students - would always, and 26% would usually wash their hands before the contact with the patient. Hand disinfection between the examination of patients was performed significantly more often by the future dentists (80%) than by the medical students (50%). Although the majority of respondents (91%) claimed that they knew the hand-washing techniques, only 1/3 of the medical (31%) and dental (34%) students admitted that they had read and applied the principle of the "five steps of hand hygiene" and only 42% identified them correctly.
Conclusion. The medical and dental students have insufficient knowledge on hand hygiene. There is an urgent need to implement regular theoretical and practical training which should enable to instill proper hand hygiene habits among the future doctors. The tutors should more closely supervise the compliance with hand hygiene among students.

Key words:  hand hygiene, students, knowledge