Hospital door handle design and their contamination with bacteria: a real life observational study. Are we pulling against closed doors?

To determine whether microbial contamination of door handles in two busy intensive care units and one high dependency unit was related to their design, location, and usage. Observational study of the number of viable bacteria on existing door handles of different design at defined entry/exit points...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2012-10, Vol.7 (10), p.e40171
Main Authors: Wojgani, Hedieh, Kehsa, Catherine, Cloutman-Green, Elaine, Gray, Colin, Gant, Vanya, Klein, Nigel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acuity
Analysis
Bacteria
Bacteria - isolation & purification
Bed Occupancy
Biology
Boundaries
Childrens health
Colony Count, Microbial
Contamination
Cross infection
Data collection
Data collections
Design
Disease control
Doors
Emergency medical care
Environmental engineering
Equipment and Supplies, Hospital - microbiology
Handles
Health services
Hospitals
Hygiene
Infection
Infections
Infectious diseases
Intensive care units
Medicine
Microbial contamination
Microbiology
Microorganisms
Neurotransmission
Nosocomial infections
Observational studies
Pathogens
Risk factors
Sustainable design
Theaters & cinemas
Web sites
Websites
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:To determine whether microbial contamination of door handles in two busy intensive care units and one high dependency unit was related to their design, location, and usage. Observational study of the number of viable bacteria on existing door handles of different design at defined entry/exit points with simultaneous data collection of who used these doors and how often. Two busy specialised intensive care units and one high dependency unit in a tertiary referral NHS neurological hospital. Surface bacterial density on door handles with reference to design, location, and intensity of use. We found a significant correlation between the frequency of movements through a door and the degree to which it was contaminated (p=
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0040171