Table 1
Demographic characteristics of medical laboratory technicians.
| CRITERIA | n | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | Female | 299 | 67.3 |
| Male | 145 | 32.7 | |
| Age | ≤30 | 217 | 48.9 |
| 31–40 | 119 | 26.8 | |
| >40 | 108 | 24.3 | |
| Highest education | Diploma | 60 | 13.5 |
| BSc | 272 | 61.3 | |
| MSc/PhD | 112 | 25.3 | |
| Experience (years) | <1 | 47 | 10.6 |
| 1–5 | 150 | 33.8 | |
| 6–10 | 87 | 19.6 | |
| >10 | 160 | 36.0 | |
| Training on infection control | During education | 151 | 34.0 |
| At workplace | 189 | 42.6 | |
| No training | 99 | 22.3 | |
| The workplace has an infection control unit | Yes | 258 | 58.1 |
| No | 186 | 41.9 | |
| Willing to participate in an infection control training workshop | Yes | 393 | 88.5 |
| No | 51 | 11.5 | |
Table 2
Infection control practices of medical laboratory technicians in relation to education level and years of experience.
| CRITERIA | TOTAL | EDUCATION LEVEL | WORK EXPERIENCE | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSC/PHD | BSC/DIPLOMA | P VALUE* | >10 YEARS | ≤10 YEARS | P VALUE* | |||
| N(%) | N(%) | N(%) | N(%) | N(%) | ||||
| Wash hands before wearing gloves. | No | 203(45.7) | 54(46.6) | 149(45.4) | 0.834 | 70(43.8) | 133(46.8) | 0.532 |
| Yes | 241(54.3) | 62(53.4) | 179(54.6) | 90(56.3) | 151(53.2) | |||
| Wash hands after removing gloves. | No | 56(12.6) | 13(11.2) | 43(13.1) | 0.596 | 22(13.8) | 34(12.0) | 0.588 |
| Yes | 388(87.4) | 103(88.8) | 285(86.9) | 138(86.3) | 250(88.0) | |||
| Wash hands before leaving the workplace. | No | 45(10.1) | 8(6.9) | 37(11.3) | 0.179 | 17(10.6) | 28(9.9) | 0.797 |
| Yes | 399(89.9) | 108(93.1) | 291(88.7) | 143(89.4) | 256(90.1) | |||
| Use of gloves during lab work. | No | 12(2.7) | 3(2.6) | 9(2.7) | 0.654 | 4(2.5) | 8(2.8) | 0.975 |
| Yes | 432(97.3) | 113(97.4) | 329(97.3) | 165(97.5) | 276(97.2) | |||
| Gloves removed when leaving the lab room. | No | 10(2.3) | 3(2.6) | 7(2.1) | 0.482 | 5(3.2) | 5(1.8) | 0.263 |
| Yes | 434(97.7) | 113(97.4) | 321(97.9) | 155(96.9) | 279(98.2) | |||
| Daily use of Lab coat. | No | 16(3.6) | 4(3.4) | 12(3.7) | 0.871 | 6(3.8) | 10(3.5) | 0.963 |
| Yes | 428(96.4) | 112(96.6) | 316(96.3) | 154(96.2) | 274(76.5) | |||
| Daily use of goggles/eye protection. | No | 302(68.0) | 64(55.2) | 238(72.6) | 0.002 | 98(61.3) | 204(71.8) | 0.072 |
| Yes | 142(32.0) | 52(44.8) | 90(27.4) | 63(38.7) | 80(28.2) | |||
| Daily use of face mask. | No | 68(15.3) | 17(14.7) | 51(15.5) | 0.799 | 26(16.3) | 42(14.8) | 0.479 |
| Yes | 376(84.7) | 99(85.3) | 177(84.5) | 134(83.7) | 242(85.2) | |||
| PPE used when interacting with patients. | No | 113(25.5) | 31(26.7) | 82(25.0) | 0.714 | 46(28.7) | 67(23.6) | 0.231 |
| Yes | 331(74.5) | 85(73.3) | 246(75.0) | 114(71.3) | 217(76.4) | |||
| PPE used when handling clinical samples. | No | 133(30.0) | 24(20.7) | 109(33.2) | 0.011 | 33(20.6) | 100(35.2) | 0.001 |
| Yes | 311(70.0) | 92(79.3) | 219(66.8) | 127(79.4) | 184(64.8) | |||
Table 3
Changes in the practices of medical laboratory technicians regarding infection control during the COVID-19 pandemic.
| CRITERIA/CHANGE IN THE PRACTICE DURING COVID-19 | INCREASED N(%) | NO CHANGE N(%) |
|---|---|---|
| Use of PPE. | 418(94.1) | 26(5.9) |
| Frequency of disinfection of laboratory surfaces. | 410(92.3) | 34(7.7) |
| Frequency of disinfection of laboratory equipment. | 385(86.7) | 59(13.3) |
| Frequency of hand washing/use of antiseptics. | 420(94.6) | 24(5.4) |