Hand Hygiene Compliance Behavior and Glove Use in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: The condition of Covid-19 pandemic potentially influences hand hygiene compliance as a
result of workload changes, increased awareness of healthcare workers (HCWs) and personal protective
equipment procedures, especially in terms of hand glove use,
Objective to know the adherence of healthcare workers at the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) to comply
with hand hygiene and glove use during the pandemic.
Methods An observational prospective study was carried out including all HCWs stationed at the PICU Dr
Soetomo General Hospital during January 2021. All participants were to sign an informed consent before
the study took place. A target of 500 opportunities was estimated during the observation, and recorded using
infra-red cameras placed at ten points. Hand hygiene compliances were evaluated according to the video
surveillance records by an independent auditor. Compliance was measured by dividing total number of
observed appropriate hand hygiene by the sum of opportunities. Data were analysed using Chi Square test
at a significance of p<0.05.
Results: A total of 28 HCWs were eligible for the study; 9 were excluded. The majority were female
(21; 75%), the mean age was 37.9 (SD 5.2) years. During 72 hours’ observation among 526 glove-use
opportunities 104 (19.7%) actual glove-use episodes were evident. The hand hygiene compliance was lower
(41.3%) when wearing gloves as compared to those with no glove use (68.2%) (p<0.001).