The prevalence of hospital acquired infection and associated factors among patients admitted at Wolaita Sodo University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, in Ethiopia

Hospital-acquired infection is an infection acquired a major global concern of well-being, affecting the quality of care in the healthcare setting. Routine surveillance of infection is an important part of infection prevention and quality assurance in hospitals. to determine the prevalence and associated factors of hospital-acquired infection among inpatients, in Wolaita Sodo University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital.Across-sectional study was conducted among inpatients in Wolaita Sodo University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. All eligible inpatients admitted at least more three days of the survey were included. The study was conducted from April 1 to July 30/2023. Environmental health professionals and nurses collected the data according to the Centers for Disease Control through observational assessments documented by physicians. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to determine the prevalence of hospital-acquired infections and the associations between independent and dependent variables. A total of 413 patients were included in this study, the median age of the participants was 26 years. A total of 352 (85.2%) patients were diagnosed with non-fatal disease during the survey. 49 patients had hospital-acquired infections developed, with a mean prevalence of 11.9 %. Coagulate-negative staphylococcus 27.27%), and E. coli (27.27) were the most frequently reported hospital-acquired infection-causing pathogens from the result of the study. The factors of patient admission diagnosis, length of hospital stay (more than five days of hospital stay), and absence of running tap water in the patient’s room with the occurrence of hospital-acquired infection were statistically significant.Surgical site infections and bloodstream infections were the most common types of hospital-acquired infections. Then, Hospital management and healthcare workers should give more attention to the practice of infection prevention to achieve a reduced prevalence of hospital-acquired infections in the study setting.