SIMPLIFY the Hand Hygiene Procedure - Three Steps Versus Six Steps for Performing Hand Hygiene - an International Multicenter Cluster Randomized Trial (SIMPLIFY Study)
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Hand Hygiene
- Sponsor
- University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
- Enrollment
- 40
- Primary Endpoint
- Compliance with hand hygiene indications
- Status
- Not yet recruiting
- Last Updated
- last year
Overview
Brief Summary
Hand hygiene is one of the most important measures to prevent healthcare associated infections. A hand hygiene technique consisting of three steps may be superior to the 6-step technique outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in terms of compliance with both indications and technique. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare compliance with hand hygiene indications and technique between a 3-step and the 6-step technique for applying hand rub in an international multicenter cluster randomized trial.
Detailed Description
Hand hygiene is one of the most important measures to prevent transmission of pathogens between healthcare workers and patients, and ultimately, healthcare-associated infections. However, compliance with both hand hygiene indications and technique (outlining the steps for applying hand rub to ensure coverage of all surfaces of the hands) remains insufficient at most institutions worldwide. It was previously demonstrated that a hand hygiene technique consisting of three steps is superior to the 6-step technique outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in terms of compliance with both indications and technique in a single center study. Furthermore, the 3-step technique was non-inferior regarding microbiological efficacy in two experimental studies and during daily clinical practice. To further investigate the external validity and generalizability of these findings to different settings, this study compares both compliance with hand hygiene indications and technique between the 3-step and the 6-step technique for applying hand rub in an international multicenter cluster randomized trial.
Investigators
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Health Care Workers (HCW) working at the randomized wards during the pre-defined timeframe
Exclusion Criteria
- •Individuals, who are no HCWs
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Compliance with hand hygiene indications
Time Frame: Up to one year
Compliance with the five hand hygiene indications defined by the WHO: * before touching a patient * before clean/aseptic procedures * after body fluid exposure risk * after touching a patient * after touching patient surroundings
Compliance with the assigned hand hygiene technique
Time Frame: Up to one year
Compliance with the assigned technique, defined as performance of the proposed three steps in the intervention group and of all six steps in the control group.
Secondary Outcomes
- Duration of the hand hygiene action(Up to one year)
- Compliance with performance of the two steps for applying hand rub to the thumbs and the fingertips(Up to one year)