Bacterial Contamination on Obstetric Resident Surgical Scrubs: a Randomized Trial

An area of potential provider-to-patient contamination, and therefore intervention, is in health care worker attire and laundering practices. For providers who work in the operating room or labor & delivery suites, this uniform usually comprises hospital-issued surgical scrubs. To the best of our knowledge, no study has measured the difference in bacterial contamination on surgical scrubs vis-a-vis the two variables most directly affected by hospital policies for surgical attire: site of scrub laundering and site where scrubs were first put on. In addition, no study has measured the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms on surgical scrubs in the obstetric setting. Our primary objective is to measure the difference in bacterial contamination (CFU/cm2) between home-laundered/home-donned scrubs ("home/home," group 1), hospital-laundered/home-donned scrubs ("hospital/home," group 2), home-laundered/hospital-donned scrubs ("home/hospital," group 3), and hospital-laundered/hospital-donned scrubs ("hospital/hospital," group 4) in the obstetric setting. Our secondary objective is to determine the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms on surgical scrubs in the obstetric setting.