CAN KNOWLEDGE ON BIOLOGICAL RISKS IMPROVE BIORISK MANAGEMENT LEVEL OF UNIVERSITY BIOSCIENCE LABORATORIES?

Abstract

University biorisk management infrastructure in Kenya is poorly developed despite the rapid emergence of highly infectious diseases. Similarly, life scientists at universities (students, lecturers, and laboratory technologists) have been indicted in incidences of fatal and nonfatal injuries. The main objective of the study was to determine if there is a linear relationship between the biorisk knowledge levels and the Biological Risk Management Level of university bioscience laboratories. It was part of a larger doctoral study that investigated the predictors of biorisk management. The study design was a quantitative, descriptive survey type and was delivered through a survey by both the researchers and online to 1300 university students, lecturers, and laboratory technologists with a response rate of 79.5%. A questionnaire designed to capture independent variable (level of biorisk knowledge of life scientists) and dependent variable (Biorisk Management Level) scores were used. Excel and IBM SPSS software assisted in computing analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation coefficients, and simple linear regression analysis. Data were summarized as tables and other descriptive statistics. A majority (55.4%) of the respondents did not exhibit high biorisk knowledge. Less than half (45.6%) of the respondents reported high biorisk knowledge. Simple linear regression analysis revealed that 21.9% of the variation in Biological Risk Management Level at the universities was explained by variation in biorisk knowledge (R Square= .219, p<0.001). It was concluded that as biorisk knowledge increases so does the biorisk management level. To improve biorisk management at the universities, there is a need to develop biorisk knowledge of life scientists. Universities and other key partners should develop the capacity of life scientists in biorisk knowledge while future studies should consider other types of knowledge other than self-rated knowledge.