Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices on Biosafety among Filipino Registered Medical Technologists: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Despite growing awareness on biosafety practices and emergence of technological advancements, many provincial clinical laboratories in the Philippines continuously rely on manual methods of laboratory analysis, thereby increasing risk of exposure if biosafety protocols are not strictly enforced. Additionally, the pressing concern of COVID-19 has led to the development of stringent biosafety guidelines to protect laboratory personnel, such as Filipino registered medical technologists (RMTs), from occupational exposure to potentially infectious specimens. This study aimed at comparing the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices on biosafety, and application of COVID-19 biosafety protocols among Filipino RMTs working in private and public clinical laboratories in Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, and Camarines Sur. This study was granted approval by the Faculty of Pharmacy Research Ethics Committee with the assigned reference number of FOP-REC-2021-01-155. Using a Descriptive-Comparative research design, a total of 244 Filipino RMTs selected through snowball sampling responded to an online questionnaire consisting of four main components: Knowledge Evaluation, Attitude Likert Scale, Practice Likert Scale, and COVID-19 Biosafety Likert Scale. Descriptive statistics and T-test with 95% confidence interval were utilized to analyze and interpret the data. There is no significant difference on the levels of knowledge (p=0.359), attitude (p=0.567), practice (p=0.845) and COVID-19 Biosafety application (p=0.832) among Filipino RMTs working in public and private clinical laboratories located in the research locale. Majority of the respondents demonstrated good knowledge on biosafety principles, commendable attitude towards biosafety, commendable practice of biosafety, and commendable application of COVID-19 biosafety protocols. The results of the study can raise awareness on the importance of building a strong safety culture within the respective workplaces of Filipino RMTs, present valuable information to further improve the pre-existing risk- and evidence-based approaches to biosafety, ensure the safety of the general public by the quality and reliability of biosafety practices, and provide an overview of the current status of biosafety knowledge, attitudes, and practices among Filipino registered medical technologists.