Bacterial Contamination of Healthcare Worker Uniforms

February 9, 2015 updated by: Denver Health and Hospital Authority

Bacterial Contamination of Healthcare Worker Uniforms: A Study of Antimicrobial Uniforms on Occupationally Acquired Bacterial Contamination: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Healthcare worker uniforms are frequently contaminated with bacteria known to cause infections in humans. These bacteria are acquired during the workday. A new technology of antimicrobial textiles have been developed and incorporated into the fabric of health care worker uniforms, reportedly with effectiveness rates of > 99% but there is little literature describing the effectiveness of Healthcare worker (HCW) uniforms with antimicrobial properties in the clinical setting. Because of the potential benefit that such uniforms could offer HCWs and patients alike, further investigation into whether these fabrics are effective is warranted.

Up to 140 physicians, nurses, and midlevel providers who work at Denver Health on the general internal medicine wards will be invited to participate in this study. Participants will be randomized to wear either uniforms (scrubs) that have antimicrobial properties or standard scrubs provided by the hospital. At the end of an 8-hour workday, three areas on each uniform and each subject's wrist area will be cultured to assess for total bacterial colonization as well as for various resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), and resistant gram-negative rods.

Primary Hypothesis: HCW uniforms with antimicrobial properties will have less bacterial contamination than standard uniforms (scrubs) at the end of an 8-hour workday.

Specific aim 1a. Demonstrate that antimicrobial uniforms will have less total bacterial contamination of sites swabbed compared to standard uniform after an 8-hour workday.

Specific aim 1b. Demonstrate that antimicrobial uniforms will have less antimicrobial-resistant bacterial contamination (specifically looking for MRSA, VRE, and resistant gram negatives) of sites swabbed compared to standard uniform after an 8-hour workday.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

109

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Colorado
      • Denver, Colorado, United States, 80204
        • Denver Health and Hospital Authority

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Physicians, nurses, and midlevel providers who work at Denver Health on the general internal medicine wards;
  • Provider must be available for cultures at the end of the day, provider must be on service at Denver
  • Health for the duration of the study, provider must be willing to avoid wearing white coats

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Refusal to participate
  • Known to be pregnant

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Standard Scrubs
Participants will be randomized to one of three types of uniforms. This arm is the standard scrub arm. The participants will wear new standard scrubs.
Experimental: Antimicrobial Scrubs 1
Participants will be randomized to one of three types of uniforms. In this arm, the participants will wear one of two types of antimicrobial uniforms. These are commercially available and registered with the Environmental Protective Agency.
Other: Antimicrobial Scrubs
Participants will be randomized to one of three types of scrubs. There will be a control (standard scrubs without antimicrobial properties) and two scrubs with reported antimicrobial properties.
Experimental: Antimicrobial Scrubs 2
Participants will be randomized to one of three types of uniforms. In this arm, the participants will wear one of two types of antimicrobial uniforms. These are commercially available and registered with the Environmental Protective Agency.
Other: Antimicrobial Scrubs
Participants will be randomized to one of three types of scrubs. There will be a control (standard scrubs without antimicrobial properties) and two scrubs with reported antimicrobial properties.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Total Bacterial Contamination of Healthcare Worker Uniform With Antimicrobial Properties Compared to Standard Healthcare Worker Uniform After an 8-hour Workday.
Time Frame: 8 hours
Total bacterial colony count of samples obtained from the breast or lower front pocket, the sleeve cuff of the dominant hand and the pant leg at the mid-thigh of the dominant leg on all scrubs after an eight-hour workday.
8 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Assess for Methicillin Resistent Staphylococcus Aureus, Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci, and Gram-negative Bacterial Contamination on Healthcare Worker Uniform With Antimicrobial Properties Compared to Standard Healthcare Worker Uniform.
Time Frame: 8 hours
Number of healthcare workers with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and resistant gram-negative bacteria on the three scrub types, all obtained after the eight-hour workday.
8 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Denver Health and Hospital Authority

Collaborators

University of Colorado, Denver

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Marisha A Burden, MD, Denver Health and Housing Authority

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

November 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2012

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 17, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 22, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

February 23, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 23, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 9, 2015

Last Verified

February 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2-5-15504

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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