Hand hygiene performance in an intensive care unit before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Eduardo Casaroto; Jose Roberto Generoso; Bruna Marques Tofaneto; Luigi Makowski Bariani; Mariana de Amorim Auler; Nathalia Xavier; Marcelo Prado; Elivane da Silva Victor; Takaaki Kobayashi; Michael B Edmond; Fernando Gatti de Menezes; Alexandre R Marra

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2022.01.018

Hand hygiene performance in an intensive care unit before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Am J Infect Control. 2022 May;50(5):585-587. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.01.018. Epub 2022 Jan 31.

Affiliations

¹ Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa Albert Einstein, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil.
² Albert Einstein Medical College, São Paulo, Brazil.
³ Albert Einstein Nursing College, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁴ Division of Research and Development, i-HealthSys, São Carlos, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA.
⁶ West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, USA.
⁷ Infection Control Unit, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁸ Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa Albert Einstein, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA. Electronic address: alexandre-rodriguesmarra@uiowa.edu.

Abstract

The current COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the focus on infection prevention in hospitals. We evaluated hand hygiene compliance with alcohol-based hand rub via electronic observation among healthcare workers in an intensive care unit from 2017 to 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic was not associated with an increase in hand hygiene compliance.

Keywords: COVID-19; Electronic hand hygiene monitor system; Hand hygiene; Intensive care unit.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / prevention & control
Cross Infection* / epidemiology
Cross Infection* / prevention & control
Guideline Adherence
Hand Disinfection
Hand Hygiene*
Health Personnel
Humans
Infection Control
Intensive Care Units
Pandemics / prevention & control