Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Mizan-Tepi University, Mizan Aman, Ethiopia.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Mizan-Tepi University, Mizan Aman, Ethiopia.
J Environ Public Health. 2021 Jan 30;2021:6614565. doi: 10.1155/2021/6614565. eCollection 2021.
Mismanagement of healthcare waste (HCW) during the COVID-19 pandemic can facilitate the transmission of coronavirus. Regarding this problem, there is gap of evidence in Ethiopia, and this study aimed to assess the HCW generation rate and management in Tepi General Hospital, southwest Ethiopia.
Institution-based cross-sectional and case studies were conducted. The total amount of waste generated and its type among various case teams were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient () was used to assess the correlation between the total numbers of patients and the total amount of HCW generated. Qualitative data were transcribed verbatim, translated to English, and analyzed with Open Code version 4.02 software, and content analysis was followed.
The total mean weight (±SD) of waste generation rate in all service units of the hospital was 492.5 ± 11.5 kg/day. The higher proportion (61.9%) of the total HCW produced was general waste and the remaining (38.1%) was hazardous waste. There was a statistically significant ( = 82.1, < 0.001) difference in daily HCW generation rate among different case teams. Similarly, the hospital waste generation amount and total patient flow had a strong positive linear relationship ( = 0.7, =0.032). COVID-19-related medical wastes were not properly handled, segregated, stored, and disposed. There was a scarcity of resources needed to manage HCW, and available resources were utilized poorly. Overall, healthcare wastes were managed as usual (pre-COVID-19).
The mean HCW generation rate in Tepi General Hospital was high. Overall, wastes were mismanaged, and COVID-19-related HCWs have been managed as usual. Availing of important resources and training the concerned bodies should be considered during the crisis of COVID-19.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，医疗保健废物（HCW）管理不善会促进冠状病毒的传播。关于这个问题，在埃塞俄比亚还存在证据空白，本研究旨在评估埃塞俄比亚西南部提皮总医院的 HCW 产生率和管理情况。
采用基于机构的横断面和病例研究。使用 Kruskal-Wallis 检验比较了各个病例组之间产生的废物总量及其类型。使用斯皮尔曼等级相关系数（ ）评估总患者人数与产生的 HCW 总量之间的相关性。对定性数据进行逐字转录、翻译成英文，并使用 Open Code 版本 4.02 软件进行分析，采用内容分析法。
医院所有服务单位的总平均废物产生率（±SD）为 492.5±11.5kg/天。产生的 HCW 总量中，较高比例（61.9%）为一般废物，其余（38.1%）为危险废物。不同病例组之间的每日 HCW 产生率存在统计学显著差异（ =82.1， < 0.001）。同样，医院废物产生量和总患者流量之间存在很强的正线性关系（ =0.7， =0.032）。与 COVID-19 相关的医疗废物未得到妥善处理、分类、储存和处置。管理 HCW 所需的资源稀缺，可用资源利用不足。总体而言，HCW 的管理仍沿用往常（COVID-19 之前）的方式。
提皮总医院的平均 HCW 产生率较高。总体而言，废物管理不善，与 COVID-19 相关的 HCW 仍沿用往常的管理方式。在 COVID-19 危机期间，应考虑利用重要资源并培训相关机构。
