Hand hygiene intervention to reduce healthcareassociated infection rate in an intensive care unit

Abstract:

ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of health care workers’(HCWs) hand hygiene intervention in healthcareassociated infection(HAI) in an intensive care unit(ICU).MethodsIntervention measures of hand hygiene were adopted,  effective supervision and management systems were established, hand hygiene compliance and HAI rate before intervention(JanuaryDecember 2012) and after intervention (the first stage: JanuaryJune 2013; the second stage: JulyDecember 2013）were compared. ResultsA total of 4 066 patients were surveyed, HCWs’ hand hygiene compliance rate before intervention was 50.03%, the first and  second stage after intervention was 61.80%  and 64.57% respectively, there was increasing trend  （rs=1.00, P<0.001）.HAI before intervention was 5.48%, the first and second stage after intervention was 3.86% and 3.30% respectively, there was decreasing trend （rs=-1.00, P<0.001）. Significant decreasing trends were found in rates of catheterrelated bloodstream infection(CRBSI), catheterassociated urinary tract infection(CAUTI) and ventilatorassociated pneumonia(VAP) (rs=-1.00, P<0.001). There were negative correlations between hand hygiene compliance rate and the infection rate of ICU, infection rate of CRBSI,CAUTI and VAP  (P<0.05).ConclusionThe improvement of hand hygiene compliance can effectively reduce the incidence of HAI in ICU ward.