OBJECTIVETo investigate the hand hygiene (HH) compliance and its influencing factors in order to improve the HH of healthcare workers (HCWs).

METHODSHH compliance of HCWs in randomly sampled departments in our hospital was observed and recorded single-blindly by specially-trained staffs using a uniform method.

RESULTSThe total compliance rate of HH of HCWs was 30.2%, which varied among different departments and posts, and working areas. It was significantly higher in ward doctors than in outpatient physicians (P < 0.01). However, the compliance was not significantly different among nurses in different departments (P > 0.05). The compliance of HH of HCWs after surgical procedures (40.4%) was significantly higher than that before procedures (19.6%) (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe compliance of HH of HCWs remains low, which is somehow affected by factors such as departments, posts, and treatment modes.

Female ; Guideline Adherence ; statistics & numerical data ; Hand Disinfection ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Male ; Personnel, Hospital ; statistics & numerical data

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the baseline levels of microorganisms' growth on the hands of anesthesiologists and in the anesthesia environment at a cancer hospital. METHODS: This study performed in nine operating rooms and among 25 anesthesiologists at a cancer hospital. Sampling of the hands of anesthesiologists and the anesthesia environment was performed at a ready-to-use operating room before patient contact began and after decontamination. RESULTS: Microorganisms' growth results showed that 20% (5/25) of anesthesiologists' hands carried microorganisms (> 10 CFU/cm ²) before patient contact began. Female anesthesiologists performed hand hygiene better than did their male counterparts, with fewer CFUs ( P = 0.0069) and fewer species ( P = 0.0202). Our study also found that 55.6% (5/9) of ready-to-use operating rooms carried microorganisms (> 5 CFU/cm ²). Microorganisms regrowth began quickly (1 hour) after disinfection, and increased gradually over time, reaching the threshold at 4 hours after disinfection. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from the hands of 20% (5/25) of anesthesiologists and 33.3% (3/9) of operating rooms. CONCLUSION Our study indicates that male anesthesiologists need to pay more attention to the standard operating procedures and effect evaluation of hand hygiene, daily cleaning rate of the operating room may be insufficient, and we would suggest that there should be a repeat cleaning every four hours.
Female ; Humans ; Male ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesiologists/statistics & numerical data* ; Disinfection/standards* ; Hand Hygiene/statistics & numerical data* ; Staphylococcal Infections ; Operating Rooms/statistics & numerical data* ; Staphylococcus aureus/isolation & purification*

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare health related behaviors among adolescents in the rural area with those in the urban area in Korea. METHODS: The data source was the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey in 2005. With two stage cluster sampling, a total of 58,224 sample was selected from 799 middle and high schools nationwide. The area was classified into county area, small to medium city, and large city, and then the county area was considered as a rural area. Data was analyzed with STATA 9.0 using the method of complex survey data analysis considering sampling weight, strata, and primary sampling unit. RESULTS: The prevalence of health related behaviors among adolescents in the rural area was higher than the city area as following health behaviors: smoking behaviors of smoking experience, smoking experience before entrance to middle school; drinking behaviors of frequent drinking, high risk behaviors with drinking; dietary behaviors of omitting of lunch or dinner, less intake of fruits or milk, more intake of cooky; oral hygiene of less tooth brushing, less preventive oral care, more oral symptoms and less dentist visit; safety behaviors of less wearing of safety belt or protective device; general hygiene of less hand washing before meal or after visiting rest room. CONCLUSIONS: The health behaviors among adolescents in the rural area were generally poorer than the city area. The results showed national health program for adolescents should be conducted primarily for those in rural areas. Further study is needed to explore the factors related with the discrepancy of health behaviors between the rural and urban area.
Adolescent ; Dentists ; Drinking ; Drinking Behavior ; Fruit ; Hand Disinfection ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Korea ; Lunch ; Meals ; Milk ; National Health Programs ; Oral Hygiene ; Prevalence ; Risk-Taking ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Statistics as Topic ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Tooth