As part of a comprehensive study in four Dutch general practice offices (GPO’s), digital hand sanitizer dispensers from OPHARDT Hygiene helped to record hand hygiene compliance.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), careful hand disinfection is the single most important measure to prevent infections, especially in healthcare facilities [1]. How well or poorly this measure is implemented in hospitals has already been sufficiently investigated. Data on hand hygiene in GPO’s, on the other hand, is rare. This is exactly where a study from the Netherlands comes in and recently investigated hand hygiene compliance.
First study on hand hygiene in Dutch GPO’s
For the study, a total of four Dutch GPO’s in the province of Groningen were equipped with smart hand sanitizer dispensers from OPHARDT Hygiene. The smart hygiene dispensers record hand disinfection data fully automatically and anonymously – including the location, time and amount used for disinfection. As part of the study, the dispensers recorded a total of 1786 hand disinfections carried out by staff in the four medical practices.
In contrast, there were 4322 indications – i.e. moments when hand disinfection would have been necessary. The authors of the study used the WHO “Five Moments of Hand Hygiene” model as the basis for recording the indications.
The primary result of the study was a hand hygiene compliance rate of 41%. Interesting: In hospitals and clinics, hand hygiene compliance is at approximately the same level – depending on the type of ward and other parameters [2].
Smart hand sanitizer dispensers provide reliable data for hand hygiene in general practice offices
The authors of the study underline that there is still a lot of room for improvement in terms of hand hygiene compliance in GPO’s. The use of hand sanitizer dispensers with digital functions was positively highlighted by the scientists: “The use of electronic dispenser allowed real-time documentation of a substantial number of hand hygiene events without increasing the workload of the HCWs,” said the team of authors of the Dutch study in their concluding statement.
Hilt N, Berends MS, Lokate M, Tent B, Voss A. Compliance and Performance of Hand Hygiene in Dutch General Practice Offices Using Electronic Dispensers. J Prim Care Community Health. 2025 Jan-Dec;16:21501319251334218. doi: 10.1177/21501319251334218. Epub 2025 Apr 21. PMID: 40258125; PMCID: PMC12035069.
[1] World Health Organization (2006): WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care. Global Patient Safety Challenge (2005-2006).
[2] Erasmus, Vicki, et al. „Systematic review of studies on compliance with hand hygiene guidelines in hospital care.“ Infection control and hospital epidemiology 31.3 (2010): 283.
Kommentieren