Knowledge and practices regarding biomedical waste management among healthcare professionals in tertiary care hospitals of Mangalore, India

Background:Infections occurring from waste produced in health care establishments are more when compared to any other type of waste. There is inadequate and inappropriate knowledge of biomedical waste management among health care personnel which might have serious health consequences and pose a threat to the environment. This study was conducted to determine the knowledge of health care professionals about the proper disposal of biomedical waste and practice in following preventive measures while handling bio medical waste. Methods:This cross sectional study was conducted at three tertiary care teaching hospitals attached to Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Mangalore. Health care professionals comprising of doctors, nurses, lab technicians and class IV employees were enrolled in the study based on convenient sampling technique after obtaining their informed written consent. The data was collected using a pre tested, semi structured questionnaire. SPSS Version 16.0 was used for entering the data and analysis.Results:It was found that doctors had better knowledge compared to other health care professionals about the correct disposal of needles (n=56, 84.8%) and disposal of discarded medicines (n=45, 68.2%). Knowledge about the correct disposal of tubes and catheters were almost equal among doctors (n=47, 71.2%) and nurses (n=47, 73.4%). Only 44.5% (n=97) of health care professionals were utilizing all the personal protective equipments while handling bio medical waste.Conclusions:It can be concluded that the awareness regarding proper disposal of biomedical waste was better among doctors, staff nurses and lab technicians when compared to class IV employees.