[Objective]The purpose of this study was the analysis of factors that are connected with acupuncturists'hand hygiene, and suggestions for improvement of hand hygiene inclinical practice of acupuncture.
[Design]A cross-sectional study.
[Methods]Subjects were 122 acupuncturists. Using a questionnaire, we investigated the difference in years of experience, daily number of patients, therapy policy, method of needle insertion, education, gender and age according to the difference in hand hygiene behavior. Furthermore, each items relation to hand hygiene behavior was examined.
[Results]The number of valid responses was 109 (89.3%). The group that does not wash its hands had a younger average age (P<0.01), shortness of clinical experience (P<0.01), and much higher number of patients per day (P<0.05) as compared with the group that washes its hands. The group with the behavior of using tools to prevent bare hands from touching needles (tools such as individual finger stalls) had a high ratio of a policy of contemporary medicine (P<0.05) and experience of education (P<0.05) as compared with the group using bare hands. Neglectfulness of hand washing was associated with younger age [odds ratio (OR) = 1.10, 95%confidence interval (CI) = 1.01-1.20]and higher daily number of patients (OR = 0.90, 95%CI = 0.83-0.98). Furthermore, behaviors of the use of tools such as individual finger stalls was related to experience of education (OR = 3.45, 95%CI = 1.27-9.36).
[Conclusion]Performance of hand washing before therapy is related with youth and greater numbers of patients per day, which cause hygiene neglect. Educational experience promotes the use of tools such as individual finger stalls.