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VOLUME 18 , ISSUE 12 ( December, 2017 ) > List of Articles

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Impact of Educational Intervention for Hand Hygiene on Dental Students’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Bacterial Contamination Level on Hands

Hanadi Lingawi, Yahia Maher, Ibtesam Afifi

Citation Information : Lingawi H, Maher Y, Afifi I. Impact of Educational Intervention for Hand Hygiene on Dental Students’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Bacterial Contamination Level on Hands. J Contemp Dent Pract 2017; 18 (12):1164-1172.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10024-2193

Published Online: 01-08-2016

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2017; The Author(s).


Abstract

Aim

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of the educational intervention for hand hygiene (HH) on knowledge, attitude, and mean colony-forming bacterial counts and type of bacteria on hands of undergraduate dental students.

Materials and methods

A total of 86 dental students from different clinical grades were included in the study. They were divided into two groups, group I (55 students) received onetime educational session for HH at the start of the academic year and group II (31 students) received an extra reenforcement session 6 months later. After 2 weeks of reenforcement session, a self-administrated questionnaire was directed to all participants assessing their knowledge and attitude about HH. Fingertip prints of the five fingers of the dominant hand from every participant were pressed onto blood agar plates in triplets at the same clinical session, before and after HH. Bacterial colony-forming units (CFUs) on each plate were recorded and identified microbiologically.

Results

The overall scores of knowledge and attitude showed higher levels in group II than in group I with nonsignificant differences between both groups as regards knowledge and significant differences (p < 0.05) as regards attitude. Mean CFUs showed extremely significant differences (p ≤ 0.000) between 2nd and 3rd counts and between 1st and 2nd counts except for students of group I where the difference was only significant (p ≤ 0.05). Normal bacterial flora was identified in 94.9% of the plates (92.2% coagulase-negative Staphylococci and 2.7% Micrococcus). Potentially pathogenic bacteria isolated from the other plates were Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas spp., and spore-forming aerobic nonhemolytic Bacilli.

Conclusion

Reenforcement session had a positive impact on HH knowledge, attitude, and reduction of bacterial CFUs.

Clinical significance

Continuous education with frequent training sessions is recommended to reinforce HH compliance and reduce cross-contamination.

How to cite this article

Lingawi H, Maher Y, Afifi I. Impact of Educational Intervention for Hand Hygiene on Dental Students’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Bacterial Contamination Level on Hands. J Contemp Dent Pract 2017;18(12):1164-1172.


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