Influencia de un programa de intervención múltiple en el cumplimiento de la higiene de manos en una unidad de cuidados intensivos

objective: to assess compliance with hand hygiene (hh) in icu workers before (p1) and after (p2) implementation of a hh promotion program and distribution of an alcoholic solution for hh, and to analyze factors independently associated to hh before and after patients care. design: fifty hours of observational evaluation were carried out during each period of the study (p1 and p2); the number of opportunities for hh (before and after patients care) was registered. educational program (6 months): poster campaign, educational meetings with staff about hh, and the provision of alcohol hand rubs. setting: icu in a secondary level hospital. participants: healthcare workers in the icu. interventions: a quasi-experimental design was used to evaluate compliance with hh before and after implementation of the educational program. variables: dependent variable: hh compliance before-after patients care; independent variables that might be associated to compliance (including the educational program). results: in p1 there were 338 opportunities for hh both before and after patients care, versus 355 in p2 (before and after patients care). the hand-washing rate was significantly higher in p2 than in p1 (prior to patient care: 45.3% and 34.9%, respectively, and after patient care: 63% and 51.7%, respectively). in the multivariate analysis, the educational program, together with other variables, was significantly associated to hh before and after patients care. conclusion: there was a significant increase in compliance with hand hygiene among the icu personnel during the educational phase, both before and after patients care.