Table II.

Factor loadings of principal component analysis of infection prevention and control (IPC) knowledge and practices.

IPC knowledge
Item	Factor loading	Commonalities (R2)
Hand hygiene	0.506	0.256
Definition of standard precautions	0.344	0.118
Rubbing of hands	0.132	0.017
Five moments of hand hygiene	0.443	0.197
Handling of personal protective equipment	0.253	0.063
Handling of sharp objects	0.540	0.291
Immunization for healthcare providers	0.425	0.181
Respiratory hygiene	0.521	0.272
Contact infection	-0.028	0.001

IPC practices
Item	Factor loading	Commonalities (R2)
Performing hand hygiene before touching patients	0.597	0.356
Performing hand hygiene after touching patients	0.493	0.243
Performing hand hygiene before clean/aseptic procedure	0.483	0.233
Performing hand hygiene after touching the patient’s surroundings	0.454	0.206
Performing hand hygiene after dealing with body fluids	0.459	0.211
Following the recommended time when hands washing	0.744	0.554
Following the recommended time when rubbing one’s hands	0.671	0.450
Discarding sharp items into sharps containers immediately after use	0.356	0.127
Using suitable personal protective equipment before entering the patient’s room	0.529	0.280
Looking up the required IPC information by oneself (using available resources)	0.497	0.247
Asking IPC team about the required IPC information, if needed	0.547	0.299

R² for component/factor: 15.5%; Cronbach alpha = 0.242.

R² for component/factor: 29.1%; Cronbach alpha = 0.702.