Mobile Applications for Learning Hand Hygiene: A Comparative Analysis.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality improvement
• Infection prevention and control
• Digital health interventions

Background:

• Effective infection control is vital for patient safety.
• Hand hygiene is a cornerstone of infection control, necessitating ongoing education.
• Mobile applications (apps) offer a potential avenue for delivering hand hygiene training to healthcare professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review available hand hygiene mobile applications.
• To identify apps available since 2021 and assess their quality.
• To evaluate the adherence of these apps to World Health Organization (WHO) hand hygiene guidelines.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review of hand hygiene apps was conducted using the PRISMA diagram.
• App stores (Google Play Store and Apple Store) were searched in March 2024.
• The Mobile Application Rating Scale questionnaire (uMARS) was used for app quality evaluation.

Main Results:

• Out of 16 reviewed apps, only five complied with WHO hand hygiene guidelines.
• Twelve apps included timers, and ten incorporated reminders.
• The highest-rated app was 'Give Me 5-Hand Hygiene' (4.31 ± 0.28), while 'Wash your hands!' scored lowest (1.17 ± 0.14).
• Over half of the apps reviewed were not available compared to a previous 2021 assessment.

Conclusions:

• App-based education shows promise for sustaining hand hygiene knowledge among healthcare workers.
• There is a need for higher quality, guideline-adherent hand hygiene apps.
• Regular updates and quality assessments are necessary for digital health tools in infection control.