Hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: American journal of infection control 2022-07, Vol.50 (7), p.719-723
• Main Authors: Sandbøl, Susanne Gundersborg, Glassou, Eva Natalia, Ellermann-Eriksen, Svend, Haagerup, Annette
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Automated hand hygiene monitoring system; Hospital setting; Infection control; Major
• ISSN: 0196-6553; 1527-3296
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.03.014

•The COVID-19 pandemic did not increase healthcare workers' hand hygiene compliance.•The automated hand hygiene system captured over 100,000 hand hygiene opportunities.•Studies are warranted to curb the challenges limiting hand hygiene compliance. Healthcare workers’ (HCWs) adherence to hand hygiene is vital in combatting COVID-19 in hospitals. We aimed to investigate HCWs hand hygiene compliance before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and hypothesised that hand hygiene compliance would increase during the pandemic. We conducted a prospective observational study in three medical departments at the Regional Hospital of West Jutland, Denmark from April 2019 to August 2020. A total of 150 HCWs participated before the COVID-19 pandemic and 136 during the pandemic. Hand hygiene observations were assessed using an automated hand hygiene monitoring system. Students unpaired t-test was used to assess differences in hand hygiene compliance rates in each department. Comparison analyses showed, that hand hygiene compliance in department A and B was significantly higher before the COVID-19 pandemic than during the pandemic; a 7% difference in department A and a 5% difference in department B. For department C, the total hand hygiene compliance was unchanged during the pandemic compared to before. The COVID-19 pandemic did not raise hand hygiene compliance. Further studies are needed to verify these findings and further identify barriers to hand hygiene compliance among HCWs.