Knowledge and Attitude of Students Regarding Bio Medical Waste Management

Aims: The study aimed to determine the following among the students of the Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha group of Colleges, India: the knowledge regarding bio-medical waste management, the attitude regarding biomedical waste management, the correlation between knowledge and attitude regarding bio-medical waste management among the students, the association of knowledge and attitude regarding bio-medical waste management among the students with selected variables such as age, gender, type of course, area of practice and year of study.

Methods: A descriptive study was conducted using a questionnaire with closed-ended questions. It was distributed to 380 students of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha, College of Nursing and Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha Ayurvedic Medical College Ludhiana, Punjab. The questionnaire was used to assess their knowledge and attitude regarding biomedical medical waste management. The resulting answers were graded and the percentage of correct and incorrect answers for each question from all the participants was obtained.

Results: The results showed that there was a below average level of knowledge regarding biomedical waste management among the students. It was surprising that 27.6% had good, only 1.8% had excellent knowledge regarding biomedical waste management. Majority (95.8%) had positive attitude regarding biomedical waste management.

Conclusions: It can be concluded from the present study that although the attitude about biomedical waste management was positive among the students, the knowledge was comparatively below average .This study indicated that there is a need for creating awareness among students regarding biomedical waste management among the students in Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha Group of Colleges.