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62 Increase of Alcohol Based Hand Rub Consumption in Hospitals Participating in the German Hand Hygiene Campaign

Saturday, April 2, 2011: 10:30 AM
Coronado BCD (Hilton Anatole)
Michael Behnke, PhD , Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Petra Gastmeier, MD , Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Christine Geffers, MD , Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Nadine Moench, MD , Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Maria Eberlein-Gonska, MD , Technical University Dresden, Dresden, Germany
Matthias Schrappe, MD , University Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Christiane Reichardt, MD , Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Background: Germany started a national campaign “AKTION Saubere Hände” to improve hand hygiene (HH) behavior in January 2008. One key intervention tool is the national surveillance system of alcohol based hand rub consumption (AHC). A new surveillance module (HAND-KISS) was added to the German national nosocomial infection surveillance system (KISS).

Objective: We studied the development of AHC through the years 2007 to 2009.

Methods: All hospitals participating in the national HH campaign feed annually unit based AHC data in to the HAND-KISS module. HAND-KISS is calculating AHC in Milliliter per patient day (ml/PD) stratified by specialty and by intensive care units (ICU’s) and Non-ICU’s. Sets of reference data are provided each year.

Results: 129 hospitals including 1659 units have consequently provided AHC data for the years 2007 (baseline) to 2009. The median AHC in 223 ICU’s out of 111 hospitals was 65 ml/PD in 2007 compared to 83.2 ml/PD in 2009. In 1436 non-ICUs out of 124 hospitals the AHC increased from 14.7 to 20.4 ml/PD (years 2007 to 2009).  There was a median increase of AHC of 30.7 % (p<0.01) within two years.

Table: Increase of AHC from 2007 to 2009 in 129 hospitals stratified by unit type

 

 

 

 

2007

(baseline)

2009

Type of unit

No. of

units

No. of hospitals

Median (ml/PD)

Median (ml/PD)

Increase
(Median ml)*

Increase (%)

p-Value

ICU

223

111

65

83.2

15.5

21.5

<0.01

Non-ICU

1436

124

14.7

20.4

5.15

36.5

<0.01

All units

1659

129

18.1

24

5.7

30.7

<0.01

Conclusions: The distribution of AHC in ml/PD is a useful benchmarking tool to characterize HH behavior. Benchmarking triggers the implementation of interventions to improve HH and allows follow up of effects of interventions. Since most campaigning hospitals achieved a substantial improvement of AHC, the increase has been triggered by the implementation of campaign intervention tools and is not a phenomenon of some so called early innovators or very motivated hospitals.