(Brief summary)
The A6Sw/oI technique showed significantly low coverage regarding the dorsum of the four fingers and the total dorsum coverage for both hands compared to the WHO6S. The coverage of the proximal region of the dorsum, just above the wrist, was low in both techniques and lower in larger sized hands. Only small hands could obtain more than 90% coverage for the dorsum of both hands by the 1.1 ml ABHR-based substance used in this study. The coverage of the palm was generally greater than 90% and was not affected by the difference in techniques or hand size. A significant difference in dorsum coverage was found between small and large sized hands for both techniques.
(Comparison with previous studies, Possible explanations and implications)
Some current locally adapted hand rubbing procedure diagrams [4, 6] do not include the interlock step. This step tends to be unconsciously ignored in HH practice, in circumstances where the WHO technique is not strictly followed. Reilly et al., in their study comparing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 3-step and the WHO-6 step, showed that in the CDC group, where the participants were requested to “cover all surfaces” following the fingers and thumbs, ‘the back of the fingers in opposite palm’ (= the interlock step), was the least observed of the WHO’s 6 steps [12]. Another study referring to the WHO guidelines excludes the interlock step, as the authors considered that this can be covered by the “palm over dorsum” step [13]. Some other local adaptations add the ‘wrist’ step to the WHO’s 6 steps [14, 15]. However, the evidence for these local adaptations is not clarified. Our study demonstrated that adding the wrist step and omitting the interlock step, as in A6Sw/oI, resulted in lower dorsum coverage and lower coverage of the dorsum of the fingers.
The clinical significance of disinfecting the dorsum of the fingers is not yet clear; however, this area of the hand is likely to touch body fluid during oral care or changing diapers, touch the patients’ skin in some blood sampling techniques, and may also be contaminated when doffing gloves. Longtin et al. showed that the region of the hand that gets closer to the patients’ skin during physical examination tended to become more contaminated in their study on the contamination of stethoscopes [16]. The dorsum of the fingers was not analysed in their study; however, as they are relatively closer to the patients’ skin, they are much more likely to touch patients and environments frequently than the proximal region of the dorsum of the hand and/or the wrist.
Insufficient amount of ABHR applied for the hand size has been discussed as responsible for the poor dorsal coverage in many previous studies [17, 18, 19], and we also found that the ratio of the participants with insufficient dorsal coverage increased as the hands were larger. While taking our data, we also observed that many participants tended to focus more on rubbing the crotch of the fingers rather than the dorsal surface of the hand at the “palm over dorsum” step, which follows the findings from the study by Durso et al. [20]. A certain proportion of the participants rubbed the dorsum of the hand differently, naturally and unintentionally; instead of placing one hand over the other in the same direction, they placed the hands at right angles, moved the top hand sideways, and rubbed the dorsum of the hand and the fingers in long strokes. Although the crotch of the fingers was being missed, this seemed to better cover the dorsum of the hand (and the fingers) than the WHO “palm over dorsum” step. As mentioned in a systematic review by Price et al. [21], the WHO6S technique is based on EN1500, the standardised testing method for hand hygiene products [22], which was originally not intended to be performed heavily in everyday clinical practice. Pursuing an effective technique to rub the dorsum of the hand may also contribute to achieving better coverage, along with applying an adequate amount of ABHR for hand size.
The 1.1 ml ABHR used in our study could obtain a mean total coverage of over 90% for both sides of the hands, only for small hands. Voniatis et al. reported that 3 ml is a reasonable volume for medium-sized hands [17], whereas Kenters et al. reported that 2.25 ml is needed to cover both sides of the hands adequately (82–90%), although the hand size of the participants was not described in their report [18]. They also reported that 86% of HCWs use only one push per event regardless of hand size [18], and we observed similar trends in our direct observation sessions in everyday practice. Therefore, from this perspective, the volume used in this study reflects current practices in reality. Over 60% of all participants and 100% of the male participants had medium to large hands, which suggests the possibility that the majority of the workers in our hospital are not using enough ABHR for their hand size. We gave the healthcare workers a choice between different high-quality hand rubs to ensure maximum acceptability, as in [23], and the one push volume of the ABHR product available in our hospital varied from 1.1 to 1.8 ml. However, the workers choose the products they use based on their tastes, such as texture and moisturisation to the skin, and not the volume per push. The amount of ABHR needs to be customised according to hand size [24], and personal carriable dispensers with controllable ‘volume per push’ might be helpful.
Recently, studies based on “fluorescent dye-based hand rubbing quality assessment”, which was validated by Lehotzky et al. with microbiological assessments [25], have been increasing. Additionally, showing the missed areas by heatmaps is visually informative when assessing the coverage of the hand. Some such studies have compared the differences and relation between the amount and the hand size [17, 26]. Another recent study reported the effect of the missed areas between different techniques, but the amount of the substance used, and the hand size of the participants were not described [20]. Our study is the first to quantitatively evaluate the difference in the coverage of the regions of the hands, visualised by heatmaps, between two different hand rubbing techniques, with the description of both the amount of ABHR and the hand size of the participants.
As stated in a recent systematic review, HH research should standardise volume and application time and consider hand size [27]. Our study standardised the volume to 1.1 ml, which is the ‘one push amount’, application time of 25 seconds, and considered hand size by applying the size of the medical gloves in the randomisation process to minimise the hand size differences between the two techniques. Significant differences in coverage between hand sizes within both technique groups were found; therefore, studies comparing the efficacy of techniques without description of hand size may reflect differences in hand size between the technique groups, and further research is needed.
“Adapt to adopt” is widely recommended for embedding the WHO HH strategy effectively in different areas of the world. However, it is not always as clear as to what extent arrangements and modifications can be regarded as “adaptations”. Careful considerations based on scientific evidence are needed when applying local empirical practice as an adaptation of the WHO guideline.
(Limitations)
The lack of training may have affected the results. This was the first mandatory technique training session for all hospital workers, with visual feedback taught directly by the Infection Control Nurse. Better results may have been achieved if such training had been continued.
The lateral sides of the hands were not analysed, as the device used in this study is not based on 3D scanning, and the coverage ratio of the 360° hand surface area was not evaluated. Therefore, especially for the participants with thick hands, total hand coverage may be much lower.