Cleaning and disinfection methods of medical tablet computers

Abstract:

ObjectiveTo investigate the contamination of clinically used tablet computers, and compare the effectiveness of three cleaning and disinfection methods.MethodsThe front and back surfaces of tablet computers were wiped and detected by handheld adenosine triphosphate (ATP) fluorescence detector, the study was divided into baseline stage and cleaning and disinfection stage. During baseline stage, the tablet computers in use were directly wiped, during cleaning and disinfection stage, the tablet computers were wiped by normal salinemoistened gauze, alcoholmoistened gauze, and wet napkin.ResultsDuring baseline stage: 20 tablet computers were wiped, the qualified rate was 0, the median of relative light unit (RLU) of ATP detection was 218.00. During cleaning and disinfection stage, 10 tablet computers were wiped in each cleaning and disinfection group, and the qualified rate of normal salinemoistened gauze, alcoholmoistened gauze, and wet napkin groups were 50.00%, 0, and 60.00% respectively, the median RLU of ATP detection were 28.50,79.00, and 29.00 respectively. Except comparison between salinemoistened gauze and wet napkin groups (P=0.97), multiple comparison of RLU of ATP detection among the other groups were significantly different （all P＜0.001）.ConclusionContamination of medical tablet computers are serious, wet napkin wiping is an ideal method for cleaning and disinfection, but the frequency for cleaning and disinfection needs to be further studied.