Effectiveness of alcohol-based hand disinfectants in a public administration: Impact on health and work performance related to acute respiratory symptoms and diarrhoea
نویسندگان
چکیده
BACKGROUND The economical impact of absenteeism and reduced productivity due to acute infectious respiratory and gastrointestinal disease is normally not in the focus of surveillance systems and may therefore be underestimated. However, large community studies in Europe and USA have shown that communicable diseases have a great impact on morbidity and lead to millions of lost days at work, school and university each year. Hand disinfection is acknowledged as key element for infection control, but its effect in open, work place settings is unclear. METHODS Our study involved a prospective, controlled, intervention-control group design to assess the epidemiological and economical impact of alcohol-based hand disinfectants use at work place. Volunteers in public administrations in the municipality of the city of Greifswald were randomized in two groups. Participants in the intervention group were provided with alcoholic hand disinfection, the control group was unchanged. Respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms and days of work were recorded based on a monthly questionnaire over one year. On the whole, 1230 person months were evaluated. RESULTS Hand disinfection reduced the number of episodes of illness for the majority of the registered symptoms. This effect became statistically significant for common cold (OR = 0.35 [0.17 - 0.71], p = 0.003), fever (OR = 0.38 [0.14-0.99], p = 0.035) and coughing (OR = 0.45 [0.22 - 0.91], p = 0.02). Participants in the intervention group reported less days ill for most symptoms assessed, e.g. colds (2.07 vs. 2.78%, p = 0.008), fever (0.25 vs. 0.31%, p = 0.037) and cough (1.85 vs. 2.00%, p = 0.024). For diarrhoea, the odds ratio for being absent became statistically significant too (0.11 (CI 0.01 - 0.93). CONCLUSION Hand disinfection can easily be introduced and maintained outside clinical settings as part of the daily hand hygiene. Therefore it appears as an interesting, cost-efficient method within the scope of company health support programmes. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER ISRCTN96340690.
منابع مشابه
The Impact of Motivation on the Work Performance of Health Workers (Korle Bu Teaching Hospital): Evidence from Ghana
Background: Motivation is a driver to health worker performance in most Ghanaian hospitals. In view of this, Ghana’s Ministry of Health has rolled out enough motivational policies to accentuate work performance of health workers. Objective: The focus of this study was to examine the impact of motivation and identify how intrinsic and extrinsic motivating ...
متن کاملInvestigating the Effectiveness of Different Disinfectants in Removing the Coronavirus: A Review Study
Viral infections have caused various diseases and deaths worldwide. In recent years, the emergence of the coronavirus has caused severe respiratory tract infections and led to a global concern. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of various disinfectants that have been used to control the coronavirus. Methods: The present study is a systematic review. Data was collected through sea...
متن کاملTraining Manual for Prevention of Covid-19 Disease among Hospital Personnel
Dear Editor In recent days, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a viral infection caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus has become a pandemic disease and has created critical conditions worldwide [1]. According to previous studies on pathogenic viruses associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome, each virus has a specific virulence dose, which it is about 2×103-3×103 viral particles for the inf...
متن کاملAlcohol Policy Development: A Case of I. R. of Iran
The harmful use of alcohol causes an estimated 2.5 million deaths every year, of which a significant proportion occur in the young. Alcohol use is the third leading risk factor for poor health globally. In response to harmful use of alcohol, World Health Organization developed a global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol endorsed by the Sixty-third World Health Assembly in 2010. Paral...
متن کاملSARS-CoV-2 and its dynamic impact on emergency department preparedness and management
Introduction: Emerging viral diseases (EVDs) pose a significant threat to public health. There have been a few viral epidemics in the last two decades. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now a global pandemic.Objective: To provide emergency physicians an update on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its dynamic impact on the emergency department (ED) in te...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
دوره 10 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2010