Efficacy Of Copper To Reduce Acquisition Of Microbes and Healthcare-acquired Infections

Copper Antimicrobial Research Program: Environmental and Patient Sampling For Indicator Organisms To Determine The Efficacy Of Copper To Reduce Acquisition Of Microbes From The Patient Care Environment

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01565798

Enrollment

614

Registered

2012-03-29

Start date

2010-07-31

Completion date

2011-06-30

Last updated

2016-03-24

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Healthcare-acquired Infection

Keywords

healthcare-acquired infections, colonization, copper-alloy surfaces

Brief summary

CONTEXT: Healthcare-acquired infections (HAI) cause substantial patient morbidity and mortality. Commonly touched items in the patient care environment harbor microorganisms that may contribute to HAI risk. Thus, reduction in the surface bioburden may be an effective strategy to reduce HAI. Inherent biocidal capabilities of copper surfaces offer a theoretical advantage to conventional cleaning, as disinfection is continuous rather than episodic. OBJECTIVE: Determine whether placement of copper-alloy surfaced objects in an intensive care unit (ICU) reduce risk of HAI. DESIGN: An intention to treat study where patients are sequentially placed into rooms with or without copper-alloy surfaced objects. SETTING: The ICUs of three hospitals, a tertiary academic hospital, an academic cancer center, and a Veteran's Administration Medical Center. PATIENTS: Any patient 18 years of age or older who required admission to an ICU at a study hospital is eligible for placement into a study room if available. INTERVENTION: Placement of copper-alloy surfaced objects in an ICU room. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Rate of incident HAI and/or colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) in each type of room.

Interventions

OTHERCopper-alloy surfaced patient care objects

Copper-alloy surfaced bed rails, over bed tray tables, chair arms, nurse call devices, laptop and computer monitor bezels, and IV poles were placed into the patient ICU rooms.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

patients 18 years and older requiring admission to an ICU at one of the study sites were eligible

Exclusion criteria

* less than 18 years of age or * pregnant

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Rate of incident HAI and/or colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) in each type of room.	July 2010 to June 2011 (up to 1 year)	Patients prospectively followed from ICU admission to hospital discharge for acquisition of HAI and/or colonization with MRSA or VRE

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Microbial burden and risk of HAI	July 2010 to June 2011 (up to 1 year)	The risk of HAI among patients admitted to ICU will be assessed by microbial burden of environment.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026