Cohort Study of Adherence to Correct Hand Antisepsis Before and After Performance of Clinical Procedures
- 1 February 2009
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology
- Vol. 30 (2), 172-178
- https://doi.org/10.1086/593206
Abstract
Objective.To investigate the rate of adherence by hospital staff members to the correct use of alcohol-based hand rub before and after performance of clinical procedures.Design.A cohort study conducted during the period from 2006 through 2007 and 2 cross-sectional studies conducted in 2006 and 2007.Setting.Århus University Hospital, Skejby, in Århus, Denmark.Participants.Various hospital staff members.Methods.Following an ongoing campaign promoting the correct use of alcohol-based hand rub, we observed rates of adherence by hospital staff to the correct use of alcohol-based hand rub. Observations were made before and after each contact with patients or patient surroundings during 5 weekdays during the period from 2006 through 2007 in 10 different hospital units. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the rate of adherence to the correct use of alcohol-based hand rub before and after performance of a clinical procedure.Results.A total of 496 participants were observed during 22,906 opportunities for hand hygiene (ie, 11,177 before and 11,729 after clinical procedures) that required the use of alcohol-based hand rub. The overall rates of adherence to the correct use of alcohol-based hand rub were 62.3% (6,968 ofthe 11,177 opportunities) before performance and 68.6% (8,041 ofthe 11,729 opportunities) after performance of clinical procedures. Compared with male participants, female participants were significantly better at adhering to the correct use of alcohol-based hand rub before performance (odds ratio [OR] 1.51 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.09–2.10]) and after performance (OR, 1.73 [95% CI, 1.27–2.36]) of clinical procedures. In general, the rate of adherence was significantly higher after the performance of clinical procedures, compared with before (OR, 1.43 [95% CI, 1.35–1.52]). For our cohort of 214 participants who were observed during 14,319 opportunities, the rates of adherence to the correct use of alcohol-based hand rub were 63.2% (4,469 of the 7,071 opportunities) before performance and 69.3% (5,021 of the 7,248 opportunities) after performance of clinical procedures, and these rates increased significantly from 2006 to 2007, except for physicians.Conclusion.We found a high and increasing rate of adherence to the correct use of alcohol-based hand rub before and after performance of clinical procedures following a campaign that promoted the correct use of alcohol-based hand rub. More hospital staff performed hand hygiene with alcohol-based hand rub after performance of clinical procedures, compared with before performance. Future campaigns to improve the rate of adherence to the correct use of alcohol-based hand rub ought be aware that certain groups of hospital staff (eg, male staff members) are known to exhibit a low level of adherence to the correct use of alcohol-based hand rub.Keywords
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