The Impact of Isolation Precautions on Hand Hygiene Frequency by Healthcare Workers

To the Editor— New systems to monitor hand hygiene (HH) can promote good practice and increase the adherence and frequency of HH.1,2 Isolation precautions are used to reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens from known or unknown sources and to reduce the risk of direct contact with secretions or bodily fluids of patients with suspected or confirmed transmissible infections or contact with contaminated objects in the patient’s environment.3,4 This study evaluated the frequency of HH episodes among multidisciplinary team members in rooms of patients with and without isolation precautions located in 3 step-down units (SDUs). [...]we analyzed 755 patients: 561 patients with no isolation precautions (74.3%) and 194 (25.7%) patients on isolation precautions. [...]our study did not show differences in HH frequency in isolated versus nonisolated patients’ rooms.