A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control examined hand hygiene rates at five tertiary care facilities over six months.
The hospitals had implemented electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring systems. Researchers recorded alcohol-based hand rub and handwash use on a worker-specific basis for six months as well as total hand hygiene product use and total hours worked. In all, 4,000 healthcare workers were included in the study.
Researchers found all five facilities demonstrated high hand hygiene compliance rates of more than 85 percent. ABHR use was more frequent with 9.1 uses per hour in the 95th percentile, as compared to handwashing with 2.1 uses per hour in the 95th percentile.
Additionally, they found nursing and nonclinical support staff demonstrated higher hand hygiene product usage rates than other healthcare workers. For these workers with high hand hygiene frequency, 95th percentile usage rate for alcohol-based hand rub use was 9.6 uses per hour versus 2.2 uses per hour for handwashing.