Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) of 6 Versus 3 Steps for Hand Hygiene

Randomised Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of Two Hand Hygiene Techniques Using Alcohol Based Hand Rub on Hand Surface Coverage and Reducing Bacterial Hand Contamination

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02396836

Acronym

SHoRT

Enrollment

120

Registered

2015-03-24

Start date

2013-11-30

Completion date

2014-03-31

Last updated

2015-03-24

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

Conditions

Hand Hygiene

Keywords

Hand hygiene, Hand decontamination, Microbial load, Hand coverage, Glove juice technique, Ayliffe technique, 6 step technique

Brief summary

The aim is to compare the effectiveness of the 6 step hand rub technique versus 3 step hand rub technique in hand coverage and in reducing bacterial contamination on the hands of healthcare workers in practice. Research questions 1. What is the effectiveness of the 6 step technique in hand coverage compared to the 3 step technique? 1. What are the most frequently missed sites in hand surface coverage using 6 steps compared to 3 steps? 2. What is the reduction in bacterial contamination of the hand with the 6 step compared to the 3 step technique? 2. Does site missed or coverage relate to bacterial load? 3. What is the time taken for 6 step technique versus 3 step technique?

Detailed description

The 6 step for decontamination of healthcare workers hand is recommended by the World Health Organization but the 3 step technique is easy to perform and has been shown by some studies to be effective. Compliance with the 6 step technique is not optimum. If the 3 step was more as or more effective than the 6 step compliance with it could be compared with that for the 6 step. No randomised controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of these two techniques using alcohol based hand rub has been conducted.

Interventions

OTHER6 step technique

Hand decontamination with alcohol hand rub using the World Health Organizations 6 step technique

OTHER3 step technique

Hand decontamination with alcohol hand rub using the 3 step technique

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Medical and nursing staff performing a clinical procedure

Exclusion criteria

* A procedure requiring use of gloves * A self declared active skin condition

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Microbial load on dominant hand	up to 5 min	A glove juice technique will be used to assess the microbial load on the dominant hand of healthcare workers following use of alcohol hand rub after a clinical procedure.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Hand coverage	up to 5 min	Ultra violet box will be used to assess hand coverage of the hands of healthcare workers following use of alcohol hand rub.

Countries

United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

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