Knowledge of hand hygiene and use of alcohol-based hand rub among interns in a Nigerian Tertiary Health Facility

Background: Healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance are both largely prevented through hand hygiene. There are still gaps in hand hygiene knowledge and routine use of alcohol-based hand rub among healthcare workers. Objectives: This study assessed the knowledge of hand hygiene and the use of alcohol-based hand rub among interns at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 230 interns using a structured WHO hand hygiene knowledge questionnaire. A two-stage sampling technique was employed. Descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out and p-value was set at ≤ 0.05. Results: Two respondents (0.9%) had good knowledge of hand hygiene while slightly more than half (117/230, 50.9%) had moderate knowledge. Also 50.9% (n = 117) used alcohol-based hand rub. Majority of the respondents, 140 (60.9%) had attended training in hand hygiene. Sex was significantly associated with the knowledge of hand hygiene (p=0.03) as male respondents had a higher proportion of good knowledge while having received training on hand hygiene was significantly associated with routine use of hand hygiene (p=0.004). Conclusions: Since only very few of the interns had overall good knowledge of hand hygiene, targeted structured training on hand hygiene and infection prevention and control practices to improve the knowledge of such healthcare workers is highly recommended.