Highlights
- •Wettability of hands when using alcoholic hand rub is influenced by frequent use.
- •Application duration of alcoholic hand rub makes little difference to wettability.
- •Proper wettability technique is key factor for efficacy of hand antisepsis.
Objective
At present, the shortest recommended application time of alcoholic handrubs is an
application interval of 30 seconds. However, application times shorter than 30 seconds
are regularly practiced. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether
a 15-second application time achieves a comparable wettability of hands to a 30-second
handrub application.
Setting
The wettability of 20 healthy volunteers' hands was compared after 15 seconds or 30
seconds of application time of an ultraviolet-light–active handrub, both before and
after training in the application technique. Images of the ventral side and dorsal
side of the hands were evaluated by computer software. Both groups' outcomes were
analyzed with regard to the spread of the handrub on hands.
Results
There was no difference between the wetted areas of the hands after 15 seconds or
30 seconds of handrub application. A significant difference was observed between the
wetted areas of hands in trained volunteers compared with untrained volunteers, irrespective
of application time.
Conclusion
Based on our results, a 15-second application time is equal to 30-second application
time in terms of wettability of hands. The improvement of wettability after training
underlines the necessity to instruct new and untrained health care workers in hand
antisepsis. Using fluorescent handrubs may be a feasible method to control and retrain
hand hygiene techniques of long-time employees.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 11, 2018
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: None to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
