The Use of a Hand Hygiene Application and Verification Kit for Self-Assessment and Behavior Modification Among Healthcare Personnel: A Case Study in the Internal Medicine Ward, Laem Chabang Hospital

Abstract

    This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an application-based program combined with a hand hygiene assessment kit in promoting self-assessment of hand hygiene performance accuracy among healthcare personnel in the medical inpatient department of Laem Chabang Hospital. A quasi-experimental study using a one-group pretest–posttest design was conducted among 40 healthcare personnel, including physicians, registered nurses, and nurse assistants. Participants performed self-assessments of hand hygiene performance accuracy before and after using the application-based program in conjunction with the DesiCoach® hand hygiene assessment kit, which utilizes visual feedback principles and provides immediate feedback.

Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and the paired t-test. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.The results showed that the participants had a mean age of 31.83 ± 7.65 years. Most participants were female (90.0%) and registered nurses (72.5%). Following the implementation of the application-based program and hand hygiene assessment kit, self-assessed hand cleanliness scores increased significantly (p < 0.01). The proportion of participants achieving scores greater than 90% increased from 2.5% to 45.0%, whereas the proportion of those scoring below 60% decreased from 17.5% to 2.5%. In addition, scores obtained from the application-based program and hand hygiene assessment kit were significantly higher than the self-assessment scores (85.55 ± 11.86 vs. 73.50 ± 11.16 points; mean difference = 12.05, 95% CI: 8.89–15.21, p < 0.001).