Compliance with gloving in anesthesia: an observational study of gloving practice at induction of general anesthesia

To gather direct observational data on anesthesiologists' compliance with universal precautions' gloving standards during induction of general anesthesia.

Prospective, observational study.

Operating theaters of an Israeli government teaching hospital.

Over a four-month period, all "first case of the day" general anesthetics were observed to determine if the anesthesiologist directly administering patient care wore gloves during the period of anesthetic induction. All anesthesia department members were observed and none was aware of the ongoing study.

Resident anesthesiologists were found to be more compliant with gloving policy than their attendings (61.8% vs. 33.7%, p < 0.0001). However, the lower compliance among the attendings was entirely attributable to the most senior staff members (over age 55 years) whose compliance rate was 11.5% versus 55.6% for attending staff below age 55 years (p < 0.0001). Departmental compliance as a whole was 49.6%. Compliance in pediatric cases averaged 10% and was equally poor among all department staff.

Although glove use remains inconsistent, in less than one and one half years since institution of a departmental gloving policy, a substantial degree of compliance was achieved. Nevertheless, further efforts are still needed to improve compliance with universal precautions. In this study, glove use was particularly deficient in pediatric cases and among senior staff aged 55 years and older. Pinpointing specific areas of greatest deficiency may prove useful in guiding additional efforts to improve compliance with universal precautions.