Background and objective: Adequate knowledge and
proper attitudes alongside correct practice can reduce
risk of occupational exposure performing activities
related to cytotoxic drugs. This study aimed to assess
level of knowledge, attitude and practice of health
workers handling cytotoxic drugs at a university
hospital in north-eastern Thailand.
Methods: A descriptive study was conducted during
May – June 2020. Validated questionnaires were
distributed to 253 health workers. The data were
analyzed into median, interquartile range, frequency
and percentage.
Results: The response rate was 86.6% (219/253) and
mostly were female (89.5%). Most were nursing health
workers (78.1%) and almost half (47.9%) performed
chemotherapy administration. The results showed
that 55.7% of participants had satisfactory level of
knowledge regarding antineoplastic agents. Answering
on the correct personal protective equipment while
handling these hazardous drugs was the category of
questions with the lowest score (44.6%). More than
two-third (67.1%) of participants had a good attitude
toward handling cytotoxic drugs, nevertheless only
39.3% had a skilful level and 64.1% reported wearing
gloves inappropriately.
Conclusions: Most respondents had a good attitude
(67.4%) but, slightly more than half had sufficient knowledge (55.7%) and the overall practice was fair
to poor. Incorrect personal protective equipment is
the most problematic issue. Hence, educational
program and training on safety procedure in all
chemotherapy related activities continually are
recommended.
Keywords
nowledge; attitude; handling cytotoxic drugs; health workers