       Document 0252
 DOCN  M9630252
 TI    Compliance with universal precautions among health care workers at three
       regional hospitals.
 DT    9603
 AU    Gershon RR; Vlahov D; Felknor SA; Vesley D; Johnson PC; Delclos GL;
       Murphy LR; Department of Environmental Health Science, Johns Hopkins;
       University, the School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore,; MD
       21205-2179, USA.
 SO    Am J Infect Control. 1995 Aug;23(4):225-36. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/96026633
 AB    OBJECTIVE: To assess and characterize self-reported levels of compliance
       with universal precautions among hospital-based health care workers and
       to determine correlates of compliance. DESIGN: Confidential
       questionnaire survey of 1716 hospital-based health care workers.
       PARTICIPANTS: Participants were recruited from three geographically
       distinct hospitals. A stratified convenience sample of physicians,
       nurses, technicians, and phlebotomists working in emergency, surgery,
       critical care, and laboratory departments was selected from employment
       lists to receive the survey instrument. All participants had direct
       contact with either patients or patient specimens. RESULTS: For this
       study, overall compliance was defined as always or often adhering to the
       desired protective behavior. Eleven different items composed the overall
       compliance scale. Compliance rates varied among the 11 items, from
       extremely high for certain activities (e.g., glove use, 97%; disposal of
       sharps, 95%) to low for others (e.g., wearing protective outer clothing,
       62%; wearing eye protection, 63%). Compliance was strongly correlated
       with several key factors: (1) perceived organizational commitment to
       safety, (2) perceived conflict of interest between workers' need to
       protect themselves and their need to provide medical care to patients;
       (3) risk-taking personality; (4) perception of risk; (5) knowledge
       regarding routes of HIV transmission; and (6) training in universal
       precautions. Compliance rates were associated with some demographic
       characteristics: female workers had higher overall compliance scores
       than did male workers (25% of female and 19% of male respondents circled
       always or often on each of the 11 items, p < 0.05); and overall
       compliance scores were highest for nurses, intermediate for technicians,
       and lowest for physicians. Overall compliance scores were higher for the
       mid-Atlantic respondents (28%) than for those from the Southwest (20%)
       or Midwest (20%, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study supports earlier
       findings regarding several compliance correlates (perception of risk,
       knowledge of universal precautions), but it also identifies important
       new variables, such as the organizational safety climate and perceived
       conflict of interest. Several modifiable variables were identified, and
       intervention programs that address as many of these factors as possible
       will probably succeed in facilitating employee compliance.
 DE    Blood-Borne Pathogens  Chi-Square Distribution  *Cooperative Behavior
       Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/*PREVENTION &  CONTROL
       Female  Human  HIV Infections/PREVENTION & CONTROL  Knowledge,
       Attitudes, Practice  Logistic Models  Male  Mid-Atlantic Region
       Midwestern United States  Motivation  Odds Ratio  Organizational Culture
       *Personnel, Hospital  Risk-Taking  Socioeconomic Factors  Southwestern
       United States  Support, Non-U.S. Gov't  Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
       *Universal Precautions  JOURNAL ARTICLE  MULTICENTER STUDY

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

