Assessing the hygienic disposal of patient stools among health workers at the Sunyani teaching hospital, Ghana

Improper hygienic disposal of patient stools in healthcare settings presents considerable dangers to infection management and the well-being of healthcare personnel, patients, and the local community. Although health workers play an essential role in ensuring proper sanitation and preventing infections, investigations have revealed shortcomings in adherence to stool disposal protocols in numerous healthcare environments, especially in low- and middle-income nations such as Ghana. The study therefore assessed the hygienic disposal of patient stools among health workers at the Sunyani Teaching Hospital. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed which allowed for association assessment but not causal inference. 315 participants were selected using stratified random sampling. Study participants were health workers. Respondents had surprisingly lower knowledge level on health hazards associated with improper disposal of patient stool (53.7%) and Moderate adherence level (77.8%) to hygienically dispose patient stool. Factors such as knowledge level, Training, resource availability, workload, Personal Risk Perception, Motivation and Attitude were found to be associated with low adherence level with p-values less than 0.05. Respondents demonstrated limited understanding of infection hazards but showed moderate adherence, largely influenced by institutional enforcement and available resources. The study concludes that while adherence to hygienic stool disposal was largely moderate, significant knowledge gaps remain that require targeted interventions. Improving continuous training, supervision and supply of disposal materials could enhance sustained compliance among healthcare workers.