Dental Student Hand Hygiene Decreased With Increased Clinical Experience

Objective To investigate the effectiveness, related knowledge, attitudes, and practices of hand hygiene (HH) among dental students with different levels of clinical experience. Design This was a cross-sectional analytical study. Bacterial samples on the participants' hands were obtained using a swab technique before and after handwashing, for oral surgical procedures. After culturing, the colony-forming units were counted. Self-reported questionnaires reflecting the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to HH were completed by the participants. Setting This study was performed in a primary oral health care institution, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok, Thailand). Bacterial samples and self-reported questionnaires were collected in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Bacterial culture was performed in the Department of Microbiology. Participants The 120 participants comprised first, second, third-year clinical training students (CTs), and postgraduate dental students (PGs) (32, 34, 30, and 24 participants, respectively). Results More than 99% of the bacteria were eliminated from the participants' hands after handwashing. Significantly higher numbers of bacteria were recovered from the hands of the PGs compared with those of the CTs, and the hands of the third-year CTs compared with those of the first-year CTs (p Conclusion HH effectiveness, attitudes, and practices of dental students decreased as students gained more clinical experience, whereas knowledge did not. Our results suggest that HH instruction should be given throughout the duration of dental students' education.