Quality assurance

Standard operational procedures were strictly followed from the pre-analytical to the post-analytical phase. The questionnaire was pretested on 16 patients with ocular infection. Data collectors were trained on data collection procedures. Completed questionnaires were proofread immediately after completion by the research team to clarify any labelling errors or illegibility. Standard Operating procedures were followed during Specimen collection, handling, transportation, microbiological analysis and interpretation of results. Reagents, media and antimicrobial disks were checked for the expiry date, damage and storage problems. Media sterility was strictly monitored by random sampling and incubation to test for any growth. In addition, reference strains of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923, E. coli ATCC25922 and P. aeruginosa ATCC27853 were used to monitor the quality of this work [42].