Knowledge, Practice and Associated Factors of Health Workers Towards Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection Prevention in Ethiopia: Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

ABSTRACT Catheter‐associated urinary tract infections are common hospital‐acquired infections. Health workers' knowledge and practices are crucial for the prevention of catheter‐associated urinary tract infections. However, studies conducted in Ethiopia have reported inconsistent results regarding this aspect. This meta‐analysis and systematic review aimed to determine the pooled prevalence of health workers' knowledge, practices and associated factors for catheter‐associated urinary tract infection prevention in Ethiopia. The databases searched included PubMed, Science Direct, Hinari, Cochrane, Google Scholar and repositories. The Newcastle‐Ottawa Scale was used to level the quality of the studies. STATA 17 was used to analyse the data, and meta‐regression and Galbraith plots were used to determine heterogeneity. We also did publication bias tests, sensitivity tests and subgroup analyses based on sample size, region and study period. The PROSPERO database had this systematic review registered under protocol number CR 42025639568. The pooled prevalence of good knowledge regarding catheter‐associated urinary tract infection prevention was 46.1%. Good practice levels of health workers were 50.8%. Having guidelines (OR: 2.674, CI: 1.835, 3.513), work experience of 5–10 (OR: 1.753, CI: 1.007, 2.50) and training (OR: 1.958, CI: 1.412, 2.50) were significantly associated with good knowledge of health workers towards catheter‐associated urinary tract infection prevention. Good knowledge (OR: 3.126, CI: 1.357–4.894), a positive attitude towards the prevention of catheter‐associated urinary tract infections (OR: 2.062, CI: 1.514–2.610) and having infection prevention guidelines (OR: 1.989, CI: 1.299–2.679) were factors that determined good practice of health workers towards catheter‐associated urinary tract infections prevention in Ethiopia. Health workers in Ethiopia relatively had poor knowledge and practice levels regarding catheter‐associated urinary tract infection prevention. Access to infection prevention guidelines, training and work experience positively influence good knowledge. Good knowledge, a positive attitude and work experience were key to good practice.