Compliance with WHO Hand Hygiene Guidelines among Healthcare Workers in a Selected University Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract Background & Aims: Keeping up with hand hygiene (HH) compliance is still considered the most effective, simple, and affordable strategy to reduce health care-associated infections. The existence of a uniform approach to measure the level of HH compliance in hospitals can have a great impact on the prevention and control of nosocomial infection. Objective: This study aimed to investigate HH compliance among healthcare workers according to the WHO Guidelines on HH in Health Care. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in ۲۰۲۴ in a government teaching hospital affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. A stratified random sampling method was used to include nurses, physicians, paramedics, and service staff from various hospital wards. Data were collected using the standard Ministry of Health checklist, adapted from WHO's "Five Moments for Hand Hygiene" framework. Its content validity was previously confirmed by the Iranian Center for Infection Control, with a reported Cronbach's alpha of ۰.۸۳. Trained infection control supervisors conducted direct observations of ۳۵۵ HH opportunities. Data were analyzed using Stata (version ۱۷) and Excel (version ۲۰۱۹). Results: The overall HH compliance rate was ۳۲% on average. The highest and lowest HH compliance rates (HHCR) are related to the operating room ward (۴۳.۱%) and internal departments (۲۹.۳%), respectively. Among the studied groups, the nurses had the highest percentage of compliance (۳۷.۱۰%). The highest level of HH (۳۹.۷۵%) was performed ‘after a procedure or body fluid exposure risk’, and the lowest amount (۲۶.۱۰%) was related to ‘after touching a patient's surroundings’. Conclusion: HH compliance remains suboptimal among healthcare workers, particularly before patient contact. Targeted educational interventions and continuous monitoring are necessary, especially on high-risk wards. The findings of this study highlight the need to provide more training to healthcare workers, especially newer healthcare workers, on improving HH.

کلیدواژه ها:

Compliance ، Cross-Sectional Study ، Delivery of Health Care ، Hand hygiene ، Health Personnel ، Iran