IRVING, Texas—Kimberly-Clark this week announced results of a new survey on patient attitudes toward hand hygiene in the healthcare setting. According to the study results, 72 percent of respondents have never asked healthcare providers if they have washed or sanitized their hands before beginning an exam or procedure.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hand hygiene is one of the most important ways to prevent the spread of infections. Approximately 1.7 million hospital patients contract an HAI each year in the United States. That means one in 20 individuals walking into a facility will become infected while seeking help for a medical concern. HAIs cost more Americans their lives than breast cancer and HIV/AIDS combined, accounting for nearly 99,000 deaths. Many of these infections are preventable.
Conducted by ORC International (ORC) on behalf of Kimberly-Clark, the survey examined the hand hygiene perceptions and behaviors of 1,020 respondents. Key findings include:
• Patients do not ask about hand hygiene: Only 5 percent of the survey respondents always ask doctors or staff in hospitals if they have washed or sanitized their hands before beginning an exam or procedure.
• Low awareness of risk: Among Americans who did not ask healthcare professionals about hand hygiene in the hospital setting, 40 percent said they did not ask because they assume healthcare professionals perform hand hygiene before treating any patient. In addition, 34 percent said they simply don't think about asking a hospital healthcare provider about hand hygiene, and 21 percent said that they do not feel it is their responsibility to ask. Only 30 percent did not ask because they witnessed their hospital healthcare provider washing or sanitizing their hands.
• Older patients are more hesitant to ask: Nearly 25 percent of Americans age 55 and older are not at all comfortable asking hospital doctors or medical staff whether they washed their hands, compared to 12 percent of those ages 18-34 who felt uncomfortable.
