Objectives: There is some limited evidence that suggests gender may be an influencing factor for hand hygiene behaviour, indicating male healthcare workers (HCWs) have poorer compliance when compared with female HCWs. This observational study set out to test the null hypothesis that HCWs gender does not influence hand hygiene compliance.
Method: As part of the National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI) audit period one 2011, four hospitals (two large urban and two regional hospitals) from three different states voluntarily participated in this study. These hospitals, whilst collecting NHHI compliance data, used a modified version of the Hand Hygiene Australia audit tool with gender (female or male) as an additional data field. All data collectors were trained and validated in the ‘5 Moments for Hand Hygiene’ auditing process.
Results: In total 4019 moments of hand hygiene were observed. Overall female HCWs were compliant 77.7% (2660/3424 moments) and male HCWs were compliant 59.8% (356/595 moments), a significant difference (p<0.0001). When sub-divided into professional groups only nurses demonstrated a statistically significant gender difference, with female nurses compliant 80.5% (2142/2660 moments) and male nurses compliant 69.4% (154/222 moments) (p=0.0001).
Conclusion: The null hypothesis was not accepted and this study demonstrates that inter-gender differences in hand hygiene compliance amongst HCWs exist. When sub-divided into professional groups only nurses showed a significant inter-gender difference, suggesting HCWs profession may also be an important influence on compliance. Overall, the results of this study may suggest that novel gender based educational or promotional approaches may be worthwhile investigating.