Can flashing lights increase hand hygiene compliance?

Hand hygiene compliance at one hospital doubled after flashing red lights were placed on hand sanitizer dispensers, according to a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

The baseline compliance rate was 12.4 percent, determined using a covert observation of eight alcohol gel dispensers near the hospital's main entrance. Then, red lights were placed on four of the eight dispensers and covert hand hygiene observation began again, completed in two cycles in January and April 2013.

The red light intervention increased compliance to 23.5 percent in cold weather and to 27.1 percent during warm weather, the researchers found. Overall, the pooled compliance rate increased to 25.3 percent

"We hypothesize that our intervention drew attention to the dispensers, which then reminded employees and visitors alike to wash their hands," the study's authors concluded.

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