Abstract:
Medical care is vital for life and health, but the waste generated from medical
activities presents a problem to human health. Mbagathi Hospital generates 210-
341kg infectious and highly infectious waste per day.This study determinedfactors
associated with biomedical waste management practices among healthcare personnel
at Mbagathi Hospital, Nairobi County. Descriptive cross sectional study
employingmixed method to gather relevant data. Stratified sampling was used to
sample195 healthcare personnel as study subject. Quantitative data were collected
using structured self- administered questionnaires and analysed using Statistical
Package for Social Scientists version 20 (SPSS)while focused group discussions
guide was used for qualitative data which were analysed thematically. Descriptive
analysis was used to summarise the data and association between variable were
tested using chi-square, multivariate and bivariate statistical test.P-values were
considered significant at < 0.05.Among the surveyed healthcare personnel, the mean
age (±SD) was 31.9 (7.5) years, (86.2%) had tertiary level education and(48.7%)
were nurses. Significantvoluminouswaste was generated: (96.9%) sharps, (91.3%)
pharmaceutical, (90.3%) pathological, (81%) kitchen, (68.7%) incineration ash
while the least produced waste reported (64.6%) radioactive wastes. Significant
number of study participants (22.6%) had inadequate knowledge on biomedical
waste management, Sanitary staff scored significantly low (71.4%) with regards to
the knowledge of biomedical waste management compared to other healthcare
personnel (P =0.001), 31% of study participant did not know when to seal safety
bins.28.2 %, 3.1% of the study participants disagreed and strongly disagreed
respectively on proper management of the biomedical waste at the facility
(P=0.005). 6.7%had not agreed on recommended practices on biomedical waste
management at the hospital(P =0.001).Uses of biomedical waste bins was
significantly associated with practicing recommended biomedical waste
management. Waste generated at various departments are source of infection that
healthcare personnel and patient are exposed to and variation of knowledge among
healthcare personnel is an indication of inadequate knowledge as far as biomedical
waste management is concerned.Periodic sensitization of staff using existing
friendly channel to convey messages and environmental and occupation health unit
to be incorporated in all curriculum for early exposure so as to address concern
arising from biomedical waste management in health facilities.
