AbstractBackgroundThe stethoscope, which is universally used as a medical device by healthcare providers, is likely to be contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms. And regular cleaning of the diaphragm of the stethoscope with a suitable disinfectant is decisive. However, in the resource constrained setting like many healthcare facilities in Ethiopia healthcare provider's stethoscope disinfection practice and its associated factors have not been well studied so far. Therefore, this study sought

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... to determine stethoscope disinfection practice and associated factors among the healthcare providers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.MethodsA facility-based cross-sectional survey was carried out between April and May 2016. For this survey, 576 healthcare providers were included from 21 healthcare facilities in Addis Ababa. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics were computed. Binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors that were significantly associated with stethoscope disinfection after every use.ResultsFive hundred forty six participants were take part in this study, for a response rate of 94.7%. Of these, only 39.7% (95%CI: 35.9, 44.0%) of healthcare providers disinfecting their stethoscope after every use. Physicians were less likely to disinfect there stethoscope compared to nurses (AOR=0.21; 95%CI: 0.09, 0.49). Healthcare providers who had awareness on infection prevention guideline, healthcare providers who had favorable attitude towards infection prevention and participants having safe infection prevention practice have better stethoscope disinfection practice after every use as compared to their counterparts (AOR=1.93; 95%CI: 1.31, 2.82), (AOR=1.73, 95%CI: 1.02, 2.93), and (AOR=3.79, 95%CI: 2.45-5.84), respectively.ConclusionsOnly a small proportion of healthcare providers disinfect their stethoscopes after every use. Factors such as awareness on infection prevention guidelines, favorable attitude towards infection prevention and safe infection prevention practice were the independent predictors of stethoscopes disinfection after every use. Hence, implementation of effective training on stethoscope disinfection along with increasing awareness on infection prevention may improve stethoscope disinfection practice.