Knowledge And Practice Of Wound Care And Their Influence On Surgical Site Infection Among Post Caesarean Section Women In Dodoma Region: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study

ABSTRACT

Background: Tanzania is experiencing post-caesarean surgical site infections, which increases maternal morbidity and mortality. Poor wound care is reported to contribute to these infections and yet there is scanty research to inform about the community knowledge on wound care practice among post cesarean section women. This study attempts to address this gap by assessing the knowledge and practice of wound care and their influence on the presence of surgical site infections among post cesarean section women in Dodoma.

Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional analytical study that was conducted from May 2020 to July 2020 in Dodoma Region. Simple random sampling procedure was employed to select 183 post caesaren section women who were discharged within two weeks. An interviewer-administered questionnaire, observation and laboratory investigation were employed to generate the data from the sample. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v.23) Software was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics were employed to describe the distribution of all the study varibles while the inferential statistics helped to assess the influence of reported wound care practice and physical home environmental condition on the occurrence of wound infection. Chi-square test, odds ratio, adjusted odds ratio, and confidence interval were reported, and the level of significance was set at two sides of less than 0.05.

Results: One hundred and eight three respondents participated in the study and the response rate was 100%. The age of research respondents ranged between 16 and 45 years with a mean (±SD) age 27.73± 7.25 years. Among 183 respondents, 20.8% had developed post-caesarean surgical site infections. Majority (98.9%) had inadequate knowledge on the diet facilitate wound healing. Less than half (48.6%) of the respondents had poor reported wound care practices. Those with poor reported wound care practices were (AOR: 5.959, 95%CI: 1.760-20.125179; P-value=0.004), to have developed post caesarean section surgical site infection

Conclusion: More than half of post caesarean section women had good reported wound care practice. Majority had inadequate knowledge on the importance of diet to facilitate wound healing Furthermore post-discharge surgical site infection in Dodoma Region influenced by poor reported wound care practices.