Survey on the current status of stethoscope cleaning and disinfection of medical staff in a tertiary hospital

Objective To investigate the current status and influencing factors of stethoscope cleaning and disinfection of medical staff in a tertiary hospital.Methods With simple random sampling,168 medical staff of a tertiary hospital were recruited and surveyed using a self-designed questionnaire.Results 4.88％ of the respondents never cleaned or disinfected stethoscopes,73.17％ of them used alcohol cotton to wipe stethoscopes.After cleaning or disinfecting stethoscopes,83.54％ used natural drying method.Only 33.53％ respondents stored stethoscopes in clean bags or containers while not using them.The mean of respondents' scores of stethoscope cleaning and disinfection was (20.42±3.07)points.There were significant differences in scores of stethoscope cleaning and disinfection between different occupations.However,there were no significant differences among different age groups or different departments.Conclusions The current status of stethoscope cleaning and disinfection of medical staff is not satisfactory.It is imperative for medical staff to improve the drying and storage method and promote their compliance with stethoscope cleaning and disinfection.Appropriate interventions should be taken aiming at the influencing factors of stethoscope cleaning and disinfection. Key words: Stethoscope;  Cleaning;  Disinfection;  Cross infection