Knowledge and Attitudes of Healthcare Workers regarding Medical Waste Management in Hospitals of Al-Najaf Province

Aims: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of healthcare workers on medical waste management and determine the relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics of healthcare workers with their knowledge and attitudes at public hospitals. Instrument Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the public hospitals of Al-Najaf, Iraq. The study includes 443 participants (93 medical staff, 310 paramedical staff, and 40 housekeeping staff) collected from 2nd January until 31st March 2022 using a researcher made questionnaire. Analysis of data carried out using SPSS 25. Findings: The study was conducted on 443 participants with a mean±SD age of 29.18 ±7.68 years. The age group 20-29 years had the highest percentage (69.1%), females (58.9%) represented the studied sample compared to males (41.1%). The highest percentage of the studied sample had Baccalaureate certification (44%) and a period of experience of 1-5 years (62.98%). The majority of the studied sample were paramedical staff (70%). Regarding training on medical waste management, the majority of them (69.1%) did not undergo any training program. In general, the overall assessment of participants’ knowledge about medical waste management was 69.9% fair, 25.1% good, and 4.9% poor knowledge, while about attitudes, 51.9% had good attitudes, 46.7% had fair attitudes, and (1.4%) had poor attitudes. Conclusion: The current study concluded that only 25.1% of healthcare workers had good knowledge of medical waste management, and about half of them 51.9% had a good attitude. The good knowledge and attitude of paramedical staff were higher than medical and housekeeping staff.