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. 2022 Oct 4;17(10):e0273809.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273809. eCollection 2022.

In-person training on COVID-19 case management and infection prevention and control: Evaluation of healthcare professionals in Bangladesh

Lubaba Shahrin  1   2 , Irin Parvin  2 , Monira Sarmin  1 , Nayem Akhter Abbassi  3 , Mst Mahmuda Ackhter  2 , Tahmina Alam  2 , Gazi Md Salahuddin Mamun  2 , Aninda Rahman  4 , Shamsun Nahar Shaima  2 , Shamima Sharmin Shikha  2 , Didarul Haque Jeorge  2 , Mst Arifun Nahar  2 , Sharifuzzaman  1 , Haimanti Saha  1 , Abu Sayem Mirza Md Hasibur Rahman  2 , Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayeem Bin Shahid  2 , A S G Faruque  2 , Tahmeed Ahmed  2   5 , Mohammod Jobayer Chisti  1   2
Affiliations

In-person training on COVID-19 case management and infection prevention and control: Evaluation of healthcare professionals in Bangladesh

Lubaba Shahrin et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: As COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, the major focus of healthcare organizations shifted towards preparing healthcare systems to handle the inevitable COVID-19 burden at different phases and levels. A series of in-person training programs were operated in collaboration with government and partner organizations for the healthcare workers (HCW) of Bangladesh. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of HCWs regarding SARS-CoV-2 infection, their case management, infection prevention and control to fight against the ongoing pandemic.

Methods: As a part of the National Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19 in Bangladesh, the training program was conducted at four district-level hospitals and one specialized hospital in Bangladesh from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. A total of 755 HCWs participated in the training sessions. Among them, 357 (47%) were enrolled for the evaluation upon completion of the data, collected from one district hospital (Feni) and one specialized hospital (National Institute of Mental Health).

Results: The mean percentage of pre-test and post-test scores of all the participants were found to be 57% (95% CI 8.34-8.91; p 0.01) and 65% (95% CI 9.56-10.15; p <0.001) respectively. The difference of score (mean) between the groups was significant (p<0.001). After categorizing participants' knowledge levels as poor, average and fair, doctors' group has shown to have significant enhancement from level of average to fair compared to that of the nurses. Factors associated with knowledge augmentation of doctors were working in primary health care centers (aOR: 4.22; 95% CI: 1.80, 9.88), job experience less than 5 years (aOR: 4.10; 95% CI: 1.01, 16.63) and experience in caring of family member with COVID-19 morbidity (aOR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.03, 4.10), after adjusting for relevant covariates such as age, sex and prior COVID-19 illness.

Conclusion: Considering the series of waves of COVID-19 pandemic with newer variants, the present paper underscores the importance of implementing the structured in-person training program on case management, infection prevention and control for the HCWs that may help for successful readiness prior to future pandemics that may further help to minimize the pandemic related fatal consequences.

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Conflict of interest statement

No authors have competing interests

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Academic contexts of the participating doctors and nurses.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Pretest-posttest score level of doctors and nurses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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