Knowledge and practices of radiographers regarding infection control in radiology departments in Malawi

Adherence to standard infection control precautions (SICP) by radiographers is critical in combating healthcare associated infections (HAIs). Therefore, radiographers need to have adequate knowledge and practices of infection control if they are to contain the magnitude of HAIs.

Purposive, all-inclusive sampling was used to recruit 62 radiographers from four government referral hospital in Malawi. Radiographers' knowledge and practices of infection control were determined using a self-administered questionnaire. Data collection was carried out in January 2017. Descriptive (e.g. mean and standard deviation) and inferential (Chi² test) statistics were generated using an MS Excel VBA application.

The majority of the respondents (84%) were between 20 and 39 years of age. The study results revealed that radiographers in the four hospitals had mean infection control score (percentage) of 76.8 ± 12.6 for knowledge and a mean infection control score of 65.3 ± 16.1 for practice. A slight significant association between age and knowledge (p < 0.05; Cramer's V 0.26) was found in that radiographers between 40 and 59 years of age (majority of the sample) obtained higher knowledge scores than those 20-39 years of age.

Given the results, further training is required regarding infection control among radiographers in radiology departments in Malawi. A guideline for infection control, specifically contextualised to be used by radiographers in radiology departments in Malawi, should be developed and implemented to enhance adherence to SICP in these departments.