Knowledge on Medical Waste Management Among Health Care Personnel: A Report from Turkey

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The amount of medical waste from hospitals and other health institutions is on the rise which leads to more significant risks for healthcare personnel. This risk can be decreased primarily by increasing health care personnel's knowledge and awareness of this issue. The aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge among healthcare personnel on medical waste management (MWM) and whether it differs with socio-demographic characteristics, or across different occupational groups, and hospital units. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted on 412 healthcare personnel [98 doctors, 206 nurses and midwives, 56 auxiliary health staff (AHS), and 52 other staff]. A questionnaire consisting of 15 questions was used in order to measure knowledge on MWM. MWM knowledge was evaluated as inadequate (<= 5 correct answers), moderate (6-10 correct answers) or adequate (>= 11 correct answers). RESULTS: The average score on the MWM questionnaire was 68.38 +/- 15.73% in all participant. The distribution of participants in the MWM knowledge groups of adequate, moderate, inadequate was 48.5%, 47.9%, and 3.6%, respectively. Nurses, AHS and other staff had higher MWM knowledge scores than doctors (71.62 +/- 14.51%, 69.88 +/- 16.13%, 69.36 +/- 16.66% and 60.20 +/- 14.75%, respectively, p<0.01). Laboratory staff had higher MWM scores than all other professional groups (p<0.01). High-school and associate degree graduates had higher MWM scores (p<0.05) than master and PhD graduates. CONCLUSION: Despite a moderate-adequate level of MWM knowledge among healthcare personnel, there is still a lack of knowledge on critical topics. Increasing the knowledge and awareness on MWM needs to be a primary concern for all health personnel, and especially for doctors.