The Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice for Managing Infectious Waste Management during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey in Thailand
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
Published
May 12, 2023
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
Abstract
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which started in late 2019, has had a significant impact worldwide. During the pandemic a massive amount of infectious waste has been produced, making the planning and creation of new waste management systems imperative. The objective of our research was to assess the Knowledge of, Attitude towards, and Practices (KAP) of, infectious waste management and disposal, particularly COVID-19 waste, of Thai people. This cross-sectional study was conducted over 6 months from October 2020 to April 2021. A self-administrated questionnaire was returned by 281 respondents and the data derived from the questionnaire was analysed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that 76.16% of respondents showed a good level of knowledge, 81.49% exhibited positive attitudes towards proper infectious waste management, and 43.77% of respondents had moderate practice levels. Analysis of the responses suggested that the ideal course of action for infectious waste management is to include the informal sector in strategies for managing infectious waste, drawing on their practices and knowledge while aiming to improve production and the living and working conditions of those involved. To lessen the risk of environmental contamination and the possibility of infection or harm to the general population, local authorities should develop a well-planned collection and transfer mechanism for infectious waste.
Keywords: knowledge, attitude, practice, infection, COVID-19
References
Al Arbash, H. A., Mahmood, S. E., & Sayyad, Y. (2021). Knowledge, attitude and practices of healthcare workers regarding bio-medical waste of Covid-19 in Aseer Region, KSA. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 13(2), 1874-1883. https://doi.org/10.31838/ijpr/2021.13.02.224
Almasi, A., Mohammadi, M., Azizi, A., Berizi, Z., Shamsi, K., Shahbazi, A., & Mosavi, S. A. (2019). Assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice of the kermanshahi women towards reducing, recycling and reusing of municipal solid waste. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 141, 329-338.
Amouei, A., Hosseini, S. R., Khafri, S., Tirgar, A., Aghalari, Z., Faraji, H., ... & Namvar, Z. (2016). Knowledge, attitude and practice of Iranian urban residents regarding the management of household hazardous solid wastes in 2014. Archives of Hygiene Sciences, 5(1), 1-8. Retrieved from http://
jhygiene.muq.ac.ir/article-1-53-en.html
Andeobu, L., Wibowo, S., & Grandhi, S. (2022). Medical waste from COVID-19 pandemic—a systematic review of management and environmental impacts in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1381.
Aung, T. S., Luan, S., & Xu, Q. (2019). Application of multi-criteria-decision approach for the analysis of medical waste management systems in Myanmar. Journal of Cleaner Production, 222, 733-745.
Bank, A. D. (2020). Managing infectious medical waste during the COVID-19 pandemic. Philippines: Asian Development Bank. Retrieved from https://www.adb.org/publications/managing-medical-waste-covid19
Barloa, E. P., Lapie, L. P., & de la Cruz, C. P. P. (2016). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices on solid waste management among undergraduate students in a Philippine State University. Journal of Environment and Earth Science, 6(6), 146-153.
Bloom, B. S.(1971). Handbook on formation and Summative Evaluation of Student Learning. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Das, A. K., Islam, M. N., Billah, M. M., & Sarker, A. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare solid waste management strategy–A mini-review. Science of the Total Environment, 778, 146220.
Decharat, S., & Phethuayluk, P. (2022). Factors Associated with Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors in the Management of Infectious Wastes among Personnel from Academic Institutes. Regional Health Promotion Center 9 Journal, 16(1), 127-139.
Deress, T., Jemal, M., Girma, M., & Adane, K. (2019). Knowledge, attitude, and practice of waste handlers about medical waste management in Debre Markos town healthcare facilities, northwest Ethiopia. BMC research notes, 12(1), 1-7.
Doylo, T., Alemayehu, T., & Baraki, N. (2019). Knowledge and practice of health workers about healthcare waste management in public health facilities in Eastern Ethiopia. Journal of community health, 44(2), 284-291.
Hussain, C. M., Paulraj, M. S., & Nuzhat, S. (2021). Source Reduction and Waste Minimization. United States: Elsevier.
Huynh, G., Nguyen, T. N. H., Tran, V. K., Vo, K. N., Vo, V. T., & Pham, L. A. (2020). Knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19 among healthcare workers at District 2 Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine, 13(6), 260-265.
Jang, Y. C., Lee, C., Yoon, O. S., & Kim, H. (2006). Medical waste management in Korea. Journal of environmental management, 80(2), 107-115.
Karmakar, N., Datta, S. S., Datta, A., Nag, K., Tripura, K., & Bhattacharjee, P. (2016). A cross-sectional study on knowledge, attitude and practice of biomedical waste management by health care personnel in a tertiary care hospital of Agartala, Tripura. National Journal of Research in Community Medicine, 5(3), 189-195.
Kerdsuwan, S., & Laohalidanond, K. (2015). Efficiency improvement for medical waste management. Handbook of Clean Energy Systems, 2015, 1-11.
Kiran, K. G., Kini, S., Ravi, K., Santhosh, N. P., & Kiran, N. U. (2015). KAP study of solid waste disposal of households in Kuttar & Manjanadi Panchayath covered under gramaskhema programme of KS Hegde Medical Academy. Journal of Health and Allied Sciences NU, 5(03), 029-035.
Krithiga, P., Sudharsana, V., Sribalaji, R., & Snega, C. (2021). Covid 19 pandemic: Assessment of knowledge and attitudes in biomedical waste management among health care professionals in Tamil Nadu. Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, 16(3), 154-164.
Kunsook, W. (2017). The study of living expenditure behavior of elderly receiving living allowances in Tubmun subdistrict, Tapanhin District, Pichit. Pitsanulook: Piboonsongkhram Rajabhat University.
Laor, P., Suma, Y., Keawdounglek, V., Hongtong, A., Apidechkul, T., & Pasukphun, N. (2018). Knowledge, attitude and practice of municipal solid waste management among highland residents in Northern Thailand. Journal of Health Research, 32(2), 123-131.
Luhar, I., Luhar, S., & Abdullah, M. M. A. B. (2022). Challenges and Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Waste Management Systems: A Review. Journal of Composites Science, 6(9), 271.
Mahmood, S., Din, N. U., & Mohsin, J. (2011). Practices regarding hospital waste management at public and private sector hospitals of Lahore. Annals of King Edward Medical University, 17(2), 113-115.
Mehrotra, S., Jambunathan, P., Jindal, M., Gupta, A., & Kapoor, K. (2021). A cross-sectional survey to assess the knowledge regarding coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among health care professionals. Medical Journal Armed Forces India, 77, S437-S442.
Mitiku, G., Admasie, A., Birara, A., & Yalew, W. (2022). Biomedical waste management practices and associated factors among health care workers in the era of the covid-19 pandemic at metropolitan city private hospitals, Amhara region, Ethiopia, 2020. PloS one, 17(4), e0266037.
Mohankumar, S, Kottaiveeran, K. (2011). Hospital waste management and environmental problems in India. International Journal of Pharmaceutical & Biological Archive, 2(6), 1621-1626.
Shammi, M., Behal, A., & Tareq, S. M. (2021). The escalating biomedical waste management to control the environmental transmission of COVID-19 pandemic: A perspective from two south Asian countries. Environmental science & technology, 55(7), 4087-4093.
Tang, W. (2020). The medical waste related to COVID-2019 is cleaned up every day—the medical waste treatment market needs to be standardised. 21st Century Business Herald, 2020, 3-12.
Thammaapipon, S., Ditpraphat, J., & Klinsrisuk, P. (2021). Knowledge and Behavior towards Medical Masks Management of Baan-Nong-Pai-Khad Community, Nakhon Pathom Province, Among Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Journal of Innovation and Management, 6(1), 37-50.
Uchechukwu, E. E., Babatunde, I. O., & Anne, C. N. (2017). Investigating Knowledge, Attitude and Health Care Waste Management by Health Workers in a Nigerian Tertiary Health. Global Journal of Health Science, 9(4), 222-232.
UNEP, B. (2020). Waste management an essential public service in the fight to beat COVID-19. Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Program.
Wayne W. D. (1995). Biostatistics: A Foundation of Analysis in the Health Sciences (6th ed.). United States: John Wiley&Sons.
Zhang, Y., & Ma, Z. F. (2020). Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Quality of Life among Local Residents in Liaoning Province, China: A Cross-Sectional Study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(7), 2381.
Zhong, B. L., Luo, W., Li, H. M., Zhang, Q. Q., Liu, X. G., Li, W. T., & Li, Y. (2020). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey. International journal of biological sciences, 16(10), 1745.
Almasi, A., Mohammadi, M., Azizi, A., Berizi, Z., Shamsi, K., Shahbazi, A., & Mosavi, S. A. (2019). Assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice of the kermanshahi women towards reducing, recycling and reusing of municipal solid waste. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 141, 329-338.
Amouei, A., Hosseini, S. R., Khafri, S., Tirgar, A., Aghalari, Z., Faraji, H., ... & Namvar, Z. (2016). Knowledge, attitude and practice of Iranian urban residents regarding the management of household hazardous solid wastes in 2014. Archives of Hygiene Sciences, 5(1), 1-8. Retrieved from http://
jhygiene.muq.ac.ir/article-1-53-en.html
Andeobu, L., Wibowo, S., & Grandhi, S. (2022). Medical waste from COVID-19 pandemic—a systematic review of management and environmental impacts in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1381.
Aung, T. S., Luan, S., & Xu, Q. (2019). Application of multi-criteria-decision approach for the analysis of medical waste management systems in Myanmar. Journal of Cleaner Production, 222, 733-745.
Bank, A. D. (2020). Managing infectious medical waste during the COVID-19 pandemic. Philippines: Asian Development Bank. Retrieved from https://www.adb.org/publications/managing-medical-waste-covid19
Barloa, E. P., Lapie, L. P., & de la Cruz, C. P. P. (2016). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices on solid waste management among undergraduate students in a Philippine State University. Journal of Environment and Earth Science, 6(6), 146-153.
Bloom, B. S.(1971). Handbook on formation and Summative Evaluation of Student Learning. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Das, A. K., Islam, M. N., Billah, M. M., & Sarker, A. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare solid waste management strategy–A mini-review. Science of the Total Environment, 778, 146220.
Decharat, S., & Phethuayluk, P. (2022). Factors Associated with Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors in the Management of Infectious Wastes among Personnel from Academic Institutes. Regional Health Promotion Center 9 Journal, 16(1), 127-139.
Deress, T., Jemal, M., Girma, M., & Adane, K. (2019). Knowledge, attitude, and practice of waste handlers about medical waste management in Debre Markos town healthcare facilities, northwest Ethiopia. BMC research notes, 12(1), 1-7.
Doylo, T., Alemayehu, T., & Baraki, N. (2019). Knowledge and practice of health workers about healthcare waste management in public health facilities in Eastern Ethiopia. Journal of community health, 44(2), 284-291.
Hussain, C. M., Paulraj, M. S., & Nuzhat, S. (2021). Source Reduction and Waste Minimization. United States: Elsevier.
Huynh, G., Nguyen, T. N. H., Tran, V. K., Vo, K. N., Vo, V. T., & Pham, L. A. (2020). Knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19 among healthcare workers at District 2 Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine, 13(6), 260-265.
Jang, Y. C., Lee, C., Yoon, O. S., & Kim, H. (2006). Medical waste management in Korea. Journal of environmental management, 80(2), 107-115.
Karmakar, N., Datta, S. S., Datta, A., Nag, K., Tripura, K., & Bhattacharjee, P. (2016). A cross-sectional study on knowledge, attitude and practice of biomedical waste management by health care personnel in a tertiary care hospital of Agartala, Tripura. National Journal of Research in Community Medicine, 5(3), 189-195.
Kerdsuwan, S., & Laohalidanond, K. (2015). Efficiency improvement for medical waste management. Handbook of Clean Energy Systems, 2015, 1-11.
Kiran, K. G., Kini, S., Ravi, K., Santhosh, N. P., & Kiran, N. U. (2015). KAP study of solid waste disposal of households in Kuttar & Manjanadi Panchayath covered under gramaskhema programme of KS Hegde Medical Academy. Journal of Health and Allied Sciences NU, 5(03), 029-035.
Krithiga, P., Sudharsana, V., Sribalaji, R., & Snega, C. (2021). Covid 19 pandemic: Assessment of knowledge and attitudes in biomedical waste management among health care professionals in Tamil Nadu. Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, 16(3), 154-164.
Kunsook, W. (2017). The study of living expenditure behavior of elderly receiving living allowances in Tubmun subdistrict, Tapanhin District, Pichit. Pitsanulook: Piboonsongkhram Rajabhat University.
Laor, P., Suma, Y., Keawdounglek, V., Hongtong, A., Apidechkul, T., & Pasukphun, N. (2018). Knowledge, attitude and practice of municipal solid waste management among highland residents in Northern Thailand. Journal of Health Research, 32(2), 123-131.
Luhar, I., Luhar, S., & Abdullah, M. M. A. B. (2022). Challenges and Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Waste Management Systems: A Review. Journal of Composites Science, 6(9), 271.
Mahmood, S., Din, N. U., & Mohsin, J. (2011). Practices regarding hospital waste management at public and private sector hospitals of Lahore. Annals of King Edward Medical University, 17(2), 113-115.
Mehrotra, S., Jambunathan, P., Jindal, M., Gupta, A., & Kapoor, K. (2021). A cross-sectional survey to assess the knowledge regarding coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among health care professionals. Medical Journal Armed Forces India, 77, S437-S442.
Mitiku, G., Admasie, A., Birara, A., & Yalew, W. (2022). Biomedical waste management practices and associated factors among health care workers in the era of the covid-19 pandemic at metropolitan city private hospitals, Amhara region, Ethiopia, 2020. PloS one, 17(4), e0266037.
Mohankumar, S, Kottaiveeran, K. (2011). Hospital waste management and environmental problems in India. International Journal of Pharmaceutical & Biological Archive, 2(6), 1621-1626.
Shammi, M., Behal, A., & Tareq, S. M. (2021). The escalating biomedical waste management to control the environmental transmission of COVID-19 pandemic: A perspective from two south Asian countries. Environmental science & technology, 55(7), 4087-4093.
Tang, W. (2020). The medical waste related to COVID-2019 is cleaned up every day—the medical waste treatment market needs to be standardised. 21st Century Business Herald, 2020, 3-12.
Thammaapipon, S., Ditpraphat, J., & Klinsrisuk, P. (2021). Knowledge and Behavior towards Medical Masks Management of Baan-Nong-Pai-Khad Community, Nakhon Pathom Province, Among Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Journal of Innovation and Management, 6(1), 37-50.
Uchechukwu, E. E., Babatunde, I. O., & Anne, C. N. (2017). Investigating Knowledge, Attitude and Health Care Waste Management by Health Workers in a Nigerian Tertiary Health. Global Journal of Health Science, 9(4), 222-232.
UNEP, B. (2020). Waste management an essential public service in the fight to beat COVID-19. Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Program.
Wayne W. D. (1995). Biostatistics: A Foundation of Analysis in the Health Sciences (6th ed.). United States: John Wiley&Sons.
Zhang, Y., & Ma, Z. F. (2020). Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Quality of Life among Local Residents in Liaoning Province, China: A Cross-Sectional Study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(7), 2381.
Zhong, B. L., Luo, W., Li, H. M., Zhang, Q. Q., Liu, X. G., Li, W. T., & Li, Y. (2020). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey. International journal of biological sciences, 16(10), 1745.
Section
Research Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
How to Cite
BUNJONGSIRI, Kultida et al.
The Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice for Managing Infectious Waste Management during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey in Thailand.
Naresuan University Journal: Science and Technology (NUJST), [S.l.], v. 31, n. 2, p. 56-68, may 2023.
ISSN 2539-553X.
Available at: <https://www.journal.nu.ac.th/NUJST/article/view/Vol-31-No-2-2023-56-68>. Date accessed: 09 may 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.14456/nujst.2023.15.