Improving knowledge, attitude, and compliance of hand hygiene of Iranian healthcare workers: A pilot study using Reminder Card

Abstract

Background : Compliance rate of hand hygiene practice by healthcare workers has been observed to be universally low despite its importance, simplicity and cost-effectiveness in preventing the spread of infectious diseases in the healthcare settings. This study aimed to improve healthcare workers ’ knowledge, attitudes, and compliance with hand hygiene by using reminder cards displayed by patients. Method : This before-after interventional study was carried out in 2019 among healthcare workers of a hospital in Tabriz, Iran. The intervention was a ‘ Reminder Card ’ showed by patients to remind healthcare workers to clean their hands. Participants ' knowledge and attitude about hand hygiene and compliance to hand hygiene were assessed before and after the intervention. Descriptive statistics were presented and the inferential statistics were calculated using the paired t -test. Results : Participants reported moderate knowledge (mean ± SD: 17.47 ± 3.03; n ¼ 25) and attitude (mean ± SD: 68.65 ± 10.99; n ¼ 96) at baseline. We observed improvements following the intervention for knowledge and attitude, respectively (mean ± SD: 21.81 ± 1.69; 79.23 ± 7.83; P < 0.001). Overall, hand hygiene compliance was 25.7% at baseline. Compliance increased to 58.8% after the intervention. The moment ‘ after contact with body fl uids ' had the highest compliance rate before and after intervention (56.7% vs. 76.8%). Conclusion : The use of a ‘ Reminder Card ’ was shown to improve hand hygiene compliance in this study. Patient participation in prompting staff to clean their hands may assist in achieving hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers ensuring quality, safe care, and infection prevention in the hospital.