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KMID : 0921420120170040603
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Korean Journal of Communication Disorders
2012 Volume.17 No. 4 p.603 ~ p.618
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A Questionnaire Study of the Speech-Language Pathologists’ Awareness of Infection Control
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Pyo Hwa-Young
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Abstract
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Background & Objectives: Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) often meet people in their clinics who have infectious diseases. However, SLPs have seldom been educated regarding infection control, resulting in their indifference on this issue. The present study investigated the SLPs’ awareness of infection control by using a questionnaire.
Methods: A prestudy with 13 SLPs was conducted with a questionnaire composed of 49 items divided into 11 categories. Based on the results, a final questionnaire was developed with 41 items divided into 8 categories including ‘others’. Each item was answered by a 2-, 3- or 5-point scale, with lower scores relating to lower awareness. A total of 102 respondents returned the questionnaires by e-mail or in person. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of whole items was 0.698.
Results: The average values were 1.86 of 4 in ‘hand washing’, 3.20 in ‘oral inspection’, 2.10 in ‘using personal protective equipment’ (PPE), 1.83 in ‘disinfection’, 2.42 in ‘infection control’, and 2.29 in ‘respiratory etiquette’. Of ‘others’, the item ‘those who have infectious diseases visit our clinic’ showed 2.31 of 4, ‘SLP should know the infection control’ showed 1.86 of 2. ‘Our clinic gives infection control education annually’ showed 0.82 of 4.
Discussion & Conclusion: According to the results, many items showed less than half the total of possible scale points on a questionnaire, and many SLPs have incorrect information regarding infection control. From these results, guidelines on infection control for SLPs should be established.
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KEYWORD
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speech-language pathologist, infection control, infection propagation, clinic environment
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