Factors Related to Practices in the Prevention of Blood and Body Fluid Infections Among Emergency Medical Responders
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Abstract
This descriptive correlational study aimed to determine infection prevention practices related to blood and body fluids among emergency medical responders (EMRs) and the relationships between perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, response efficacy expectations, and self-efficacy expectations, and infection prevention practices related to blood and body fluids among EMRs working in three provinces within Health Region 5 including Rachaburi, Suphanburi and Nakornphathom province. The sample consisted of 378 EMRs, selected through multi-stage sampling. Data were collected from December 2024 to February 2025 using a self-administered questionnaire assessing factors related to infection prevention practices. The questionnaire comprised sections on general information, perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, response efficacy expectations, self-efficacy expectations for infection prevention, and infection prevention practices regarding blood and body fluids. Content validity was verified by six experts. The content validity values ranged from .95 to 1.00, and the Cronbach's alpha coefficients were .96, .85, .96, .83, and .96, respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.
The study results revealed that 97.1% of EMRs demonstrated a high level of infection prevention practices related to blood and body fluids. Perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, and response efficacy expectations showed weak positive correlations with infection prevention practices (r = .137, p < .05; r = .147, p < .01; r = .180, p < .01, respectively). Self-efficacy expectations showed a moderate positive correlation with infection prevention practices (r = .315, p < .01).
These findings may serve as a guideline for developing training programs on infection prevention practices related to blood and body fluids for EMRs. Enhancing EMRs’ self-efficacy expectations in infection prevention should be promoted to improve performance and safety in their work.
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