ABSTRACT
Purpose: This study investigated the bacterial contamination level of the indoor air and surface of the operation room, surgical, and gynecology wards of Dilchora Referral hospitals between January and August 2020. Methods: A laboratory based cross-sectional study was carried out on the OR and wards of Dilchora referral hospital in Eastern Ethiopia. A passive air sampling method was used to collect 128 indoor air samples; the bacterial load was enumerated and the result was expressed as colony forming units (CFU/m3). Additional qualitative analysis was carried out to identify particular bacterial species that were isolated from the indoor air and swabs taken from the surface of the equipment using conventional techniques. All laboratory data were entered and analyzed using MS Excel 2007 and SPSS version 20. Results: The mean bacterial counts of 94.63 CFU/dm/hr in major OR during active time as well as 509.75 and 509.38 CFU/dm/hr in male and female clothing rooms during the afternoon were unacceptable (>450 CFU/dm2). Similarly, 43.75% of the bacterial counts found in the afternoon samples fell short of Fisher's criterion. The difference between the bacterial counts recorded in the morning and afternoon was significant (p=0.000). A total of 54 (42.2%) indoor air samples and 28 (93.3%) cotton swabs were positive for bacterial growth, with S. aureus (51.04%) and Bacillus sp (55%) being the dominant bacteria isolated from indoor air and the surface of equipment, respectively. Conclusion: The bacterial load of investigated wards is considerably "high" to "very high", which implies a significant risk of hospital acquired infections. Therefore, devising effective control strategies targeted on surface cleansing and sterilizing of the air environment and practicing periodic microbial surveillance of the hospital environment is a paramant.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: This study tried to assess the level of dietary knowledge and practice and associated factors among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in public hospitals of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 253 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients visiting follow-up clinic in public hospitals selected by systematic random sampling. Primary data were collected by face-to-face interview and checklist. The collected data were entered into SPSS version 22 and analyzed using proportion, percentage, and mean and standard deviation. Bivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify candidate variables affecting dietary practice. Finally, all candidate independent variables were further adjusted on multivariate regression analysis with adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval to identify factors independently associated with dietary practice. p-value ⩽0.05 declared as level of significance. Results: The level of poor dietary practice among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients was found to be 53.8%. Around 78.8% of participants had fasting blood sugar level ⩾130 mg/dL, and 52.8% found to have poor dietary knowledge. Moreover, there was no up-to-date nutritional guideline in follow-up clinic. Not getting nutrition advice from doctors/nurses, low duration of follow-up, lack of family support, and despondency were significantly associated with poor dietary practice (p-value < 0.05). Conclusion: More than half of diabetes patients had poor dietary practice, which is in contrary with international recommendations of diabetic self-care. Habit of eating fruits and vegetables was poorly practiced and also patients' knowledge of recommended nutrition was poor. Therefore, provision of robust nutritional education and counseling service, a system to strengthen family support as well as psychosocial support, is highly recommended.
