Hand Hygiene Compliance in Some Intensive Care Units of Turkey: Results of Multicentre Asklepeion Study

Ayşe UYAN ÖNAL; Firdevs AKSOY; Emel AZAK; Meliha MERİÇ KOÇ; Sevil ALKAN ÇEVİKER; Çiğdem ATAMAN HATİPOĞLU; Ramazan GÖZÜKÜÇÜK; Kenan UĞURLU; Güneş ŞENOL; Gül DURMUŞ; Habibe Tülin ELMASLAR MERT; Handan ALAY; Filiz KOÇ; Derya ÇAĞLAYAN; Demet DİKİŞ; Nilay BİLGİLİ KORKMAZ; Nilgün Deniz KÜÇÜKER; Nurhayat KEPELİ; Behiye ULUSOY; Şükran AKŞİT BARİK; Hüsnü PULLUKÇU; Hilal SİPAHİ; Bilgin ARDA; Sercan ULUSOY; Oğuz Reşat SİPAHİ

doi:10.4274/mjima.2018.37

Hand Hygiene Compliance in Some Intensive Care Units of Turkey: Results of Multicentre Asklepeion Study

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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Hand Hygiene Compliance in Some Intensive Care Units of Turkey: Results of Multicentre Asklepeion Study

Mediterr J Infect Microb Antimicrob 2018;7:37-37 DOI: 10.4274/mjima.2018.37

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Abstract

Introduction: Hand hygiene is one of the most cost-effective infection control measures. In this multicenter study we analyzed the hand hygiene compliance observation results of 15 hospitals in Turkey.

Materials and Methods: This study was performed in the intensive care units of 15 hospitals (eight tertiary-care educational hospitals, six state hospitals, and one private hospital) from 11 cities located in six regions of Turkey. The observations were made by infection control practitioners according to the World Health Organization (WHO) - Five Moments for Hand Hygiene (WHO-5) indications rule for hand hygiene and overall compliance rates were calculated. Observations were unblinded (healthcare professionals knew that they were observed). The study period included 2015 and 2016 calendar years.

Results: There was a statistically significant increase in hand hygiene compliance rates in 2016 versus 2015. The overall number of hand hygiene opportunities and instances of compliance in 2015 and 2016 were 60071/78116 (76.9%) and 66551/83607 (79.6%) (p=0.0001), respectively. Nurses were the most compliant group in both years. The highest compliance was after body fluid exposure (88.2% in 2015 and 91.4% in 2016), while the lowest compliance was before patient contact (61.3% in 2015 and 65% in 2016).

Conclusion: The presented data suggest that under unblinded observations, hand hygiene compliance seems to be in relatively acceptable rates in Turkey. Centers with compliance rates below the 50th percentile in any of the five moments should increase efforts to enhance compliance for that indication.

Keywords: Infection control and prevention, epidemiology, nosocomial, hospital-acquired infections, healthcare-associated infections