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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

A Method to Test the Efficacy of Handwashing for the Removal of Emerging Infectious Pathogens
Published on: June 7, 2017
[Compliance with handwashing in health care settings]
M Chittaro1, F Coiz, A Faruzzo
1Cattedra di Igiene, Dipartimento di Patologia e Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, Università degli Studi di Udine.
Unlabelled:
Many studies report low compliance with handwashing in health care settings, even if it is considered an important factor to reduce cross transmission.
Methods:
Observational study in University Hospital with external observers.
Results:
The observers recorded 1262 opportunities for handwashing among 49 nurses. The average of the opportunities was 8,8 handwashing/hour (d.s. +/- 5.05, range 0 divided by 23). The compliance was 19,3%. Compliance was higher in intensive care unit (25,6 %) than in medical ward (18,1 %) and surgical ward (13,9 %). There were no difference between males (19 %) and females (19.4%). Compliance with handwashing was significantly better in post procedure (34%) than in pre procedure (10.6%) and was worst when the workload was higher.
Conclusions:
The study confirms the low adhesion to handwashing international recommendations and suggests to adopt "ad hoc" educational programs and suitable structural/operative conditions.
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