TY - JOUR
T1 - Computer screen saver hand hygiene information curbs a negative trend in hand hygiene behavior
AU - Helder, Onno
AU - Weggelaar - Jansen, Anne Marie
AU - Waarsenburg, DCJ (Daniël)
AU - Looman, Caspar
AU - Goudoever, Johan
AU - Brug, J
AU - Kornelisse, R.F.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Background: Appropriate hand hygiene among health care workers is the most important infection prevention measure; however, compliance is generally low. Gain-framed messages (ie, messages that emphasize the benefits of hand hygiene rather than the risks of noncompliance) may be most effective, but have not been tested. Methods: The study was conducted in a 27-bed neonatal intensive care unit. We performed an interrupted time series analysis of objectively measured hand disinfection events. We used electronic devices in hand alcohol dispensers, which continuously documented the frequency of hand disinfection events. In addition, hand hygiene compliance before and after the intervention period were directly observed. Results: The negative trend in hand hygiene events per patient-day before the intervention (decrease by 2.3 [standard error, 0.5] per week) changed to a significant positive trend (increase of 1.5 [0.5] per week) after the intervention (P < .001). The direct observations confirmed these results, showing a significant improvement in hand hygiene compliance from 193 of 303 (63.6%) observed hand hygiene events at pretest to 201 of 281 (71.5%) at posttest. Conclusions: We conclude that gain-framed messages concerning hand hygiene presented on screen savers may improve hand hygiene compliance. Copyright (C) 2012 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
AB - Background: Appropriate hand hygiene among health care workers is the most important infection prevention measure; however, compliance is generally low. Gain-framed messages (ie, messages that emphasize the benefits of hand hygiene rather than the risks of noncompliance) may be most effective, but have not been tested. Methods: The study was conducted in a 27-bed neonatal intensive care unit. We performed an interrupted time series analysis of objectively measured hand disinfection events. We used electronic devices in hand alcohol dispensers, which continuously documented the frequency of hand disinfection events. In addition, hand hygiene compliance before and after the intervention period were directly observed. Results: The negative trend in hand hygiene events per patient-day before the intervention (decrease by 2.3 [standard error, 0.5] per week) changed to a significant positive trend (increase of 1.5 [0.5] per week) after the intervention (P < .001). The direct observations confirmed these results, showing a significant improvement in hand hygiene compliance from 193 of 303 (63.6%) observed hand hygiene events at pretest to 201 of 281 (71.5%) at posttest. Conclusions: We conclude that gain-framed messages concerning hand hygiene presented on screen savers may improve hand hygiene compliance. Copyright (C) 2012 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
U2 - 10.1016/j.ajic.2011.12.003
DO - 10.1016/j.ajic.2011.12.003
M3 - Article
SN - 0196-6553
VL - 40
SP - 951
EP - 954
JO - American Journal of Infection Control
JF - American Journal of Infection Control
IS - 10
ER -