An Assessment of Infection Prevention and Control Implementation in Selected Hospitals Across Katsina State Using the WHO Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Framework (IPCAF) Tool

Abstract

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remain a major public health issue, especially in developing nations like Nigeria and effective Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) programs are fundamental tools for addressing its endemicity and reducing the antibiotic resistance that is associated with it. This study applied the World Health Organization's Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Framework (IPCAF) instrument to evaluate the application of IPC policies in selected hospitals across Katsina State.

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of IPC programs in selected hospitals in Katsina using the WHO IPC Assessment Framework tool.

Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted and a stratified random sampling based on ownership, location, and geographical zones was used to select 11 hospitals (44% of all the general hospitals and federal health institutions in Katsina State) within the timeframe -December 2024 to February 2025. Using eight basic components, the WHO IPCAF tool to assess IPC implementation; scoring was classified as inadequate (0–200), basic (201–400), intermediate (401–600), or advanced (601–800).

Results: Of the hospitals assessed, only Federal Teaching Hospital Katsina attained an advanced degree of IPC implementation of 647 points. Six hospitals (55%) are in the basic level (201–400 points), one hospital (GH Funtua, 402 points) scored in the intermediate category, and three hospitals (27.27%) in the deficient category (<200 points). There was a noticeable urban-rural split; urban and federal facilities showed more compliance than rural ones. The great range in scores (107.5 to 647) revealed notable differences in understanding of healthcare workers, accessible infrastructure, and IPC protocol conformance.

Conclusion: It was concluded that only 9% of government health institutions in Katsina State is at advanced level using WHO criteria, there’s also a significant disparity in IPC application among the government hospitals. Rural hospitals constantly scored lower scores, underscoring geographical differences in the standard of healthcare. Particularly in rural facilities, the results imply the need of focused interventions to improve IPC implementation, standardizing of IPC protocols, enhanced healthcare worker training, improved surveillance systems, and infrastructure development to lower HAIs and raise healthcare quality in Katsina State.

Keywords: IPCAF, WHO Standards, Katsina State, Infection Prevention and Control, Healthcare-Associated Infection.