Investigating Knowledge and Practice of Health Workers about the Stages of Waste Management in the Covid-19 Epidemic

One of the most important issues in maintaining and promoting community health is comprehensive waste management, especially in the COVID-19 epidemic. Failure to pay attention to waste management leaves irreparable damage. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and practice of health workers about the stages of waste management in the COVID-19 epidemic.

This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 428 health workers working at Jiroft University of Medical Sciences. A convenience sampling method was used. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire on waste management. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and logistic regression tests with SPSS24 software.

The mean age of employees was 32.16 7 ±7.03 years. The staff’s knowledge and practice about waste management in COVID-19 conditions were 54.2% good, 32.2% moderate, and 13.6% poor. All stages of waste management had significant positive correlations with each other (p <0.05). Logistic regression results showed that the female gender (OR = 1.8, P = 0.001), place of work (OR = 2.1, P = 0.002), higher education (OR = 2.9, P = 0.001), and good economic status (OR = 2.7, P = 0.001) increase the probability of knowledge and practice of health workers about waste management in COVID-19 conditions.

In general, the knowledge and practice of employees about waste management in the COVID-19 epidemic were good, but it is necessary to make educational interventions in accordance with the determinants of waste management to increase and maintain the knowledge and performance of employees.