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SG-APSIC1122: Observational study of handwashing sink activities in the inpatient setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2023

Xiaowei Huan
Affiliation:
National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore
Sharifah Farhanah
Affiliation:
Infectious Disease Research and Training Office, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore
Kyaw Zaw Linn
Affiliation:
National Public Health & Epidemiology Unit, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore
Clara Chong Hui Ong
Affiliation:
Infectious Disease Research and Training Office, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore
Liang Hui Loo
Affiliation:
Infectious Disease Research and Training Office, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore
Allie Yin Lim
Affiliation:
National Public Health & Epidemiology Unit, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore
Nur Hafizah Binte Hamad
Affiliation:
National Public Health & Epidemiology Unit, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore
Chu Ying Poon
Affiliation:
National Public Health & Epidemiology Unit, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore
Hui Ru Tan
Affiliation:
National Public Health & Epidemiology Unit, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore
Ying Wei Tang
Affiliation:
National Public Health & Epidemiology Unit, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore
Brenda Sze Peng Ang
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
Marimuthu Kalisvar
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore

Abstract

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Objectives: The use of handwashing sinks for activities other than hand hygiene (HH) is associated with higher rates of β-lactamase–producing Enterobacteriaceae. However, little has been published about the handwashing sink activities in Singapore hospitals. We explored the handwashing sink activities in a tertiary-care hospital in Singapore. Methods: Five trained shadow observers conducted this observational study between December 18 and 21, 2018 (6 hours per day: 07:00–09:00, 09:30–11:30, and 12:30–14:30) in acute-care general wards. We divided the handwashing sink activities by healthcare workers (HCWs) and non-HCWs (ie, visitors, caregivers, and relatives) and by HH- and non–HH-related activities. We used Stata version 15 software for the analysis. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the National Healthcare Group, Singapore (DSRB no. 2020/01257). Results: In total, 657 handwashing sink activities were recorded [HCWs, 475 (72.3%) and non-HCWs, 182 (27.7%)]. Of the 475 HCW handwashing sink activities, 451 (94.9%) were HH-related, 10 (2.1%) were for patient nutrition, 7 (1.5%) were for environmental care, 6 (1.3%) were for medical equipment cleaning, and 1 (0.2%) was patient personal-item cleaning. Of the 182 handwashing sink activities by non-HCWs, 117 (64.3%) were HH related, 30 (16.5%) were for patient nutrition, 21 (11.5%) were for personal hygiene, 14 (7.7%) were patient personal-item cleaning. The distribution of handwashing sink activities differed significantly (P < .01) between HCWs and non-HCWs. The odds of non–HH-related handwashing sink activities among non-HCWs was 10× higher than among HCWs (OR, 10.44; 95% CI, 5.98–18.23; P < .01). Conclusions: Handwashing sinks use for non–HH-related activities is higher among non-HCWs than HCWs. Further studies are needed to understand the impact of non-HH handwashing sink activities on nosocomial infections and ways to reduce them.

Type
Hand Hygiene
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America