Article ; Online: Mobile phones of paediatric hospital staff are never cleaned and commonly used in toilets with implications for healthcare nosocomial diseases.
2021 Volume 11, Issue 1, Page(s) 12999
Abstract: ... smartphones are constantly used. Disinfecting phones is a practice that only a minority of healthcare workers ... by paediatric wards healthcare workers. 165 paediatric healthcare workers and staff filled in a questionnaire ... nosocomial diseases. To assess and report via a survey the handling practices and the use of phones ...
| Abstract | An ever-increasing number of medical staff use mobile phones as a work aid, yet this may pose nosocomial diseases. To assess and report via a survey the handling practices and the use of phones by paediatric wards healthcare workers. 165 paediatric healthcare workers and staff filled in a questionnaire consisting of 14 questions (including categorical, ordinal and numerical data). Analysis of categorical data used non-parametric techniques such as the Chi-squared test. Although 98% of respondents (165 in total) report that their phones may be contaminated, 56% have never cleaned their devices. Of the respondents that clean their devices, 10% (17/165) had done so with alcohol swabs or disinfectant within that day or week; and an additional 12% respondents (20/165) within that month. Of concern, 52% (86/165) of the respondents use their phones in the bathroom, emphasising the unhygienic environments in which mobile phones/smartphones are constantly used. Disinfecting phones is a practice that only a minority of healthcare workers undertake appropriately. Mobile phones, present in billions globally, are therefore Trojan Horses if contaminated with microbes and potentially contributing to the spread and propagation of micro-organisms as per the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the world. |
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| MeSH term(s) | Bathroom Equipment/virology ; COVID-19/prevention & control ; COVID-19/virology ; Cell Phone/instrumentation ; Cross Infection/prevention & control ; Cross Infection/virology ; Delivery of Health Care/methods ; Disinfection/methods ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Hand Hygiene ; Hospitals, Pediatric ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Male ; Personnel, Hospital ; Risk Factors ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Self Report |
| Language | English |
| Publishing date | 2021-06-21 |
| Publishing country | England |
| Document type | Journal Article |
| ZDB-ID | 2615211-3 |
| ISSN | 2045-2322 ; 2045-2322 |
| ISSN (online) | 2045-2322 |
| ISSN | 2045-2322 |
| DOI | 10.1038/s41598-021-92360-3 |
| Database | MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE |
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