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Knowledge into practice: Managing bio-waste

for comprehensive data analysis. Descriptive statistics Table 1. Demographic characteristics of the
were used to summarize the data, with results presented participants
as frequencies and percentages. The chi-square test was Characteristics n (total=163) Percentage
applied to determine the association between categorical Age (years)
variables.
20 – 30 29 17.8
3. Results 30 – 40 61 37.4
40 – 50 48 29.4
This study involved a total of 163 participants, and >50 25 15.3
their characteristics are shown in Table 1. The majority Gender
were aged between 30 and 40 years (37.4%), followed Male 63 38.7
by those aged 40 – 50 years (29.4%), 20 – 30 years
(17.8%), and above 50 years (15.3%). As per gender Female 100 61.3
classification, there were 100 females (61.3%) and Profession
63 males (38.7%). Regarding the professional roles, Doctors 41 25.2
41participants (25.2%) were doctors, 50 (30.7%) were Nurses 50 30.7
nurses, and 72 (44.2%) were other HCWs, including Other healthcare workers 72 44.2
lab technicians and pharmacists. Most participants Working experience in healthcare (years)
– 139 (85.3%) – were employed in government <5 40 24.5
hospitals. The professional settings included village-
level facilities (37.4%), town or mandal headquarters 6 – 10 25 15.3
(31.3%), and municipal or municipal corporation areas 11 – 20 61 37.4
(31.3%). 21 – 30 30 18.4
>31 7 4.3
3.1. Knowledge assessment Organization
The study revealed that only 65% of the participants Corporate hospital 5 3.1
have undergone training in BMWM (Table 2). About
11% of the survey participants did not recognize the Government hospital 139 85.3
biohazard symbol. All doctors (100%) and more than Medical college 6 3.7
95% of nurses and other HCWs accepted that waste Own clinic/private hospital/ 13 8
separation is the most critical phase of BMWM and diagnostic center
agreed that wearing personal protective equipment Place of work
(PPE) reduces the risk of infection. However, 19% of Village 61 37.4
the participants were not aware that waste collected in Town/mandal headquarters 51 31.3
the yellow bags must be treated through incineration. Municipal/municipal 51 31.3
In this study, 76% of doctors, nurses, and other HCWs corporation
demonstrated good to excellent knowledge on BMWM,
while only 2% exhibited poor knowledge (Table 3). An
analysis was done to determine whether knowledge between workplace location and knowledge level
levels were influenced by the profession, revealing no (p<0.05).
statistically significant association (p>0.05).
Given that 24% of respondents fell into the average to 3.2. Attitude assessment
poor knowledge category, a further analysis was carried The analysis of the attitude of HCWs revealed that around
out to examine the relationship between workplace 90% agreed that safe BMWM management requires
location and knowledge level (Table 4). Among those teamwork (Table 5). The majority of respondents
working in village areas (37.4%), only 13.1% had strongly believed that infection transmission can
excellent knowledge. In comparison, 15.6% of HCWs be prevented with proper disposal of BMW (mean
based in town or mandal headquarters and 45% of score = 4.46). Most respondents also expressed concern
those in municipality or municipal corporation areas for occupational safety, emphasizing its importance
demonstrated excellent knowledge of BMWM. This for individuals handling BMW (mean score = 4.45).
analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship However, around 20% of the respondents did not

Volume 22 Issue 5 (2025) 207 doi: 10.36922/AJWEP025090058