Variability in the Duration and Thoroughness of Hand Hygiene

Clin Infect Dis. 2019 Sep 13;69(Suppl 3):S221-S223. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciz612.

Abstract

We observed 354 hand hygiene instances across 41 healthcare workers doffing personal protective equipment at 4 hospital-based biocontainment units. We measured the duration and thoroughness of each hand hygiene instance. Both parameters varied substantially, with systematic differences between hospitals and differences between healthcare workers accounting for much of the variance.

Keywords: hand hygiene; human factors engineering; personal protective equipment; serious communicable disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Containment of Biohazards
  • Cross Infection / prevention & control*
  • Ergonomics
  • Georgia
  • Guideline Adherence
  • Hand Hygiene / statistics & numerical data*
  • Health Personnel / statistics & numerical data*
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / prevention & control
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / transmission
  • Hospitals
  • Humans
  • Infection Control / methods
  • Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional / prevention & control*
  • Personal Protective Equipment*
  • Retrospective Studies