Factors Influencing Hand Hygiene Adherence among Hospitalized Adults in South Korea

초록

Purpose: This study evaluated hospitalized patients’ knowledge, attitudes, and adherence to hand hygienepractices and aimed to identify the factors influencing adherence during hospitalization. Methods: This crosssectionalcorrelational study was conducted using a structured questionnaire with 165 adult inpatients at a tertiarycare hospital. Data collected between March 6 and 17, 2023, were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the t-test,one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlations, multiple linear regression, and SPSS/WIN 27.0 software. Results: The mean knowledge score was 9.02/12, and the attitude mean score was 1.68 on a -3 to +3 scale. Theaverage adherence level was 3.83/5 before hospitalization but 3.36 during hospitalization. Adherence was highestafter restroom use and before meals, and lowest before and after room transfers. Hand hygiene adherence waspositively correlated with knowledge (r=.42, p<.001), attitude (r=.21, p=.008), and daily hand hygiene (r=.65,p<.001). Key predictors of hand hygiene adherence included daily hand hygiene (β=.58, p<.001), knowledge(β=.15, p=.021), caregiver’s hand hygiene (β=.14, p=.024), and other patients’ hand hygiene (β=.12, p=.049),explaining 50.0% of the variance. Conclusion: Improving hand hygiene adherence among inpatients requirestargeted education, supportive environments, and public awareness. Emphasizing factors such as daily handhygiene adherence, knowledge, caregiver’s hand hygiene practices, and other patients’ behaviors can effectivelyreduce healthcare-associated infections and improve patient safety.

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