Abstract
Background/objectiveAfter wearing powdered gloves, healthcare workers (HCW) are supposed to wash their hands instead of using alcohol-based hand-rub (ABHR). Washing hands takes longer than using ABHR, and the use of powdered gloves may be an obstacle to hand-hygiene compliance. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of replacing powdered gloves with powder-free gloves on hand-hygiene compliance among HCW of an intensive care unit (ICU).MethodsA quasi-experimental study was conducted in a general ICU of a tertiary care university hospital in Brazil. From June 1st to July 15th, 2017, all HCW were provided with powdered latex gloves only for all clinical procedures. From July 15th to August 31st, 2017, HCW were provided with nitrile powder-free gloves only. Hand-hygiene compliance was assessed through direct observation, and evaluated according to the World Health Organization Hand Hygiene guidelines. We calculated that a sample size of 544 hand hygiene opportunities needed to be observed per period. Data analysis were performed using the STATA SE® version 14, and we compared the individual’s percentage of compliance using the t test for paired data before and after the intervention.ResultsOverall, 40 HCW were assessed before and after the introduction of nitrile powder-free gloves, with 1114 and 1139 observations of hand hygiene opportunities, respectively. The proportion of compliance with hand hygiene was 55% (95% confidence interval [CI] 51–59%) using powdered latex gloves and 60% (95% CI 57–63%) using powder-free gloves. The difference in proportions between the two types of gloves was 5.1% (95% CI 2.5–7.6%, p < 0.001).ConclusionOur data indicate that replacing powdered gloves with powder-free gloves positively influenced hand-hygiene compliance by HCW in an ICU setting.
Highlights
Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a public health problem, and in developed countries, 5–19% of hospitalized patients are reported to contract a health care-associated infection [1].Menegueti et al Antimicrob Resist Infect Control (2021) 10:6In the United States (US), it was estimated that 4.5– 5.7 million dollars are spent yearly for treatment of HAI, with an average of two million cases, resulting in 80 thousand deaths a year [2]
Alcohol-based hand-rub (ABHR) has been listed since 2002 as a standard solution for hand hygiene for health care workers (HCW), while hand washing is recommended when there is for visible dirty in the hand or the HCW comes in contact with patients with Clostridium difficile [9, 10]
This study aimed to evaluate the impact of replacing powdered gloves with powder-free gloves on the handhygiene compliance among HCW of an intensive care unit (ICU) in Brazil
Summary
Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a public health problem, and in developed countries, 5–19% of hospitalized patients are reported to contract a health care-associated infection [1].Menegueti et al Antimicrob Resist Infect Control (2021) 10:6In the United States (US), it was estimated that 4.5– 5.7 million dollars are spent yearly for treatment of HAI, with an average of two million cases, resulting in 80 thousand deaths a year [2]. Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a public health problem, and in developed countries, 5–19% of hospitalized patients are reported to contract a health care-associated infection [1]. Silva (2005) [4] stated that 30% of all HAI can be prevented and that there is convincing evidence that hand hygiene is the most effective measure in preventing these events [5,6,7,8]. Alcohol-based hand-rub (ABHR) has been listed since 2002 as a standard solution for hand hygiene for health care workers (HCW), while hand washing is recommended when there is for visible dirty in the hand or the HCW comes in contact with patients with Clostridium difficile [9, 10]
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