The validity of hand hygiene compliance measurement by observation: a critical systematic review

Jeanes, Annette, Coen, Pietro, Drey, Nicholas and Gould, Dinah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1506-9532 2019. The validity of hand hygiene compliance measurement by observation: a critical systematic review. American Journal of Infection Control 47 (1) , pp. 313-322.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hand hygiene is monitored by direct observation to improve practice, but this approach can potentially cause information, selection, and confounding bias, threatening the validity of findings. The aim of this study was to identify and describe the potential biases in hand hygiene compliance monitoring by direct observation; develop a typology of biases and propose improvements to reduce bias; and increase the validity of compliance measurements. METHODS: This systematic review of hospital-based intervention studies used direct observation to monitor health care workers' hand hygiene compliance. RESULTS: Seventy-one publications were eligible for review. None was free of bias. Selection bias was present in all studies through lack of data collection on the weekends (n = 61, 86%) and at night (n = 46, 65%) and observations undertaken in single-specialty settings (n = 35, 49%). We observed inconsistency of terminology, definitions of hand hygiene opportunity, criteria, tools, and descriptions of the data collection. Frequency of observation, duration, or both were not described or were unclear in 58 (82%) publications. Observers were trained in 56 (79%) studies. Inter-rater reliability was measured in 26 (37%) studies. CONCLUSIONS: Published research of hand hygiene compliance measured by direct observation lacks validity. Hand hygiene should be measured using methods that produce a valid indication of performance and quality. Standardization of methodology would expedite comparison of hand hygiene compliance between clinical settings and organizations.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Healthcare Sciences
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0196-6553
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	23 November 2018
Date of Acceptance:	21 September 2018
Last Modified:	20 Nov 2024 15:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/117063

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