A STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES RELATED TO HAND HYGIENE AMONG FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF NURSING AND PHARMACEUTICAL COLLEGE IN CENTRAL INDIA: COMPARATIVE CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices related to hand hygiene among first year undergraduates of Nursing and Pharmacy in Durg district. Design: Comparative cross sectional study. Methods: Study was conducted among two groups of undergraduate students belonging to the first year of their respective course. The first group included 118 students pursuing first year of Bachelors in Pharmacy course at a private institute of pharmaceutical science and research and the other group included 181 students pursuing first year of Bachelors of Science, Nursing course at a private nursing institute located in Durg District. All study subjects were surveyed with a questionnaire regarding their Knowledge, attitude and practices related to hand hygiene. Statistical Analysis: Shapiro Wilk test, Z- test, Mann Whitney U test. Results: A questionnaire based responses was obtained from 299 first year undergraduate students of nursing and pharmacy. Nursing students had better knowledge (P<0.000), attitude (P=0.013) and practice (P<0.000) than the pharmacy students. Conclusion: Our study emphasizes the need for educational and training programs about hand hygiene and its techniques, risks related to improper hand hygiene. There is also a need to augment the availability and accessibility of hand hygiene resources. Adequate knowledge and training regarding hand hygiene may help bring about a change in attitude towards hand hygiene, better compliance, reducing the transmission of infections and, ultimately, building a healthy society.