Perception, Patterns and Facts: A Study Based on Hand Hygiene among Pharmacy Clerkship Students during COVID-19 Epidemic in Karachi

Aims: The objective of the study is to explore the knowledge and attitude towards hand hygiene practices among 4th year and 5th year clerkship pharmacy students in a private medical university in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methodology: A cross- sectional study was conducted for the period of 2 months (November 2020- December, 2020). A well-structured questionnaire was developed to determine the current habit of students’ hand hygiene. The statistical data assimilation recorded through SPSS version 20 to integrate numerical significance.

Results: Questionnaire was distributed to 193 students out of which, one hundred Eighty (n=180/193) students participated in this study (response rate 93.26%. Although the majority of students had a fair knowledge of hand hygiene practices, a number of them had few misconceptions. The hand sanitizing practices while encountering patient or prior to patient’s contact showed the 88.3% correct answers. In our study the 75% of participants correctly answered that “traditional hand washing (apply enough soap to cover and rub hands and clean in between the fingers using water) can help stop picking up infections and spreading them to others.” The current study showed that 82.2 percent Healthcare providers are educating patients and their families about hand hygiene and its importance, the 23.3% negative response was collected in context to inspected the particular World Health Organization (WHO) and center of disease control (CDC)rules for hand cleanliness.

Conclusion: The current study showed that students had adequate knowledge regarding the importance of hand hygiene. However, there were few students who had inadequate knowledge related to WHO and CDC rules for hand cleanliness which can improve by providing appropriate education and guidance.