Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38637873›Full record

ArticleAntimicrobial resistance and infection control2024

Ten years of hand hygiene excellence: a summary of outcomes, and a comparison of indicators, from award-winning hospitals worldwide.

Ermira Tartari, Jacopo Garlasco, Marcela Hernández-de Mezerville, Moi Lin Ling, Hilda Márquez-Villarreal, Wing-Hong Seto, Anne Simon, Thomas-Jörg Hennig, Didier Pittet

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Article in Antimicrobial resistance and infection control, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Stewardship of Antibiotics Prescribing in Belgian Dental Practice: A National Survey.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Ermira TartariFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, 2080, Msida, Malta. ermira.tartari@gmail.com.
Jacopo GarlascoInfectious Diseases Unit, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Marcela Hernández-de MezervilleHospital Nacional de Niños, San José, Costa Rica.
Moi Lin LingInfection Prevention and Epidemiology, Singapore General HospitalSingapore, 169608, Singapore, Singapore.
Hilda Márquez-VillarrealDepartment of Public Health, University of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
Wing-Hong SetoSchool of Public Health, WHO Collaborating Centre, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Anne SimonInfection Control and Prevention, CHU Helora, Haine-Saint-Paul, Belgium.
Thomas-Jörg HennigMedical Division, Borer Chemie AG, Zuchwil, Switzerland.
Didier PittetFaculty of Medicine & Clean Hospitals, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.

Funding

World Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHand hygiene is a crucial measure for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The Hand Hygiene Excellence Award (HHEA) is an international programme acknowledging healthcare facilities for their leadership in implementing hand hygiene improvement programmes, including the World Health Organisation's Multimodal Improvement Strategy. This study aimed at summarising the results of the HHEA campaign between 2010 and 2021 and investigating the relationship between different hand hygiene parameters based on data from participating healthcare facilities.

methodsA retrospective analysis was performed on datasets from HHEA forms, including data on hand hygiene compliance, alcohol-based handrub (ABHR) consumption, and Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework (HHSAF) scores. Descriptive statistics were reported for each variable. The correlation between variables was inspected through Kendall's test, while possible non-linear relationships between hand hygiene compliance, ABHR consumption and HHSAF scores were sought through the Locally Estimated Scatterplot Smoothing or logistic regression models. A tree-structured partitioning model was developed to further confirm the obtained findings.

resultsNinety-seven healthcare facilities from 28 countries in three world regions (Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America) were awarded the HHEA and thus included in the analysis. HHSAF scores indicated an advanced hand hygiene promotion level (median 445 points, IQR 395-480). System change (100 [95-100] points) and institutional safety climate (85 [70-95] points) showed the highest and lowest score, respectively. In most cases, hand hygiene compliance was above 70%, with heterogeneity between countries. ABHR consumption above 20 millilitres per patient-day (ml/PD) was widely reported, with overall increasing trends. HHSAF scores were positively correlated with hand hygiene compliance (τ = 0.211, p = 0.007). We observed a positive correlation between compliance rates and ABHR consumption (τ = 0.193, p < 0.001), although the average predicted consumption was stable around 55-60 ml/PD for compliance rates above 80-85%. Logistic regression and partitioning tree analyses revealed that higher HHSAF scores were more likely in the high-ABHR consumption group at cut-offs around 57-59 ml/PD.

conclusionTen years after its inception, the HHEA proves to be a valuable hand hygiene improvement programme in healthcare facilities worldwide. Consistent results were provided by the different hand hygiene indicators and the HHSAF score represents a valuable proxy measure of hand hygiene compliance.

Indexed as

Cross InfectionHand HygieneHealth FacilitiesHospitalsHumansRetrospective StudiesAlcohol-based handrubAwardsExcellenceGlobal healthHand hygieneInfection prevention and controlPatient safetyWHO hand hygiene self-assessment frameworkWHO multimodal improvement strategyWorld health organization

Identifiers

PMID38637873
PMCPMC11027265

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.