Microbial contamination of mobile phone and its hygiene practices by medical students and doctors in a tertiary care hospital:A cross-sectional study
Introduction: The incidence of hospital-acquired infections is on the rise globally. Mobile phones, used by healthcare workers, can be significant sources for harboring bacteria responsible forHAIs in health care setups. Objective: To assess the microbial contamination of mobile phones and the hygie...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666990021000379 |
| _version_ | 1819174559149981696 |
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| author | Qasid Ahmad Fizza Zubair Ameena Amina Asif Jalees Khalid Khan Fareeha Imran |
| author_facet | Qasid Ahmad Fizza Zubair Ameena Amina Asif Jalees Khalid Khan Fareeha Imran |
| author_sort | Qasid Ahmad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: The incidence of hospital-acquired infections is on the rise globally. Mobile phones, used by healthcare workers, can be significant sources for harboring bacteria responsible forHAIs in health care setups. Objective: To assess the microbial contamination of mobile phones and the hygiene practices adopted by medical students and doctors in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Lahore General Hospital in March 2019. The samples included 259 mobile phones of medical students and doctors in various cadres in different clinical departments. The participants were inquired about their beliefs and practices about mobile phone cleaning and the cleaning agents used. The Pearson Chi-Square test was used for analyzing the data. The statistical significance level was set at p < 0.05 Results: All participants in the study had an average age of 25.46±5.621, including 56% males and 44% females. Of the total sample of 259 cases, 72.6% showed growth of one or more bacteria. . There was no correlation between the number of times mobile phones were cleaned and the number of bacteria present on their surfaces (p-value > 0.05). Most mobile phones (39.8%) were contaminated with one type of microbe, while 32.8% had more than one organism growing on them. Conclusion: Most of the mobile phones owned by the medical students and doctors were contaminated with bacterial pathogens. Despite the doctors’ claim of cleaning their gadgets, there was presence of microbes on them. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T20:40:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-71b03b9146a34c8599b8ccab3abb3361 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-9900 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T20:40:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update |
| spelling | doaj.art-71b03b9146a34c8599b8ccab3abb33612022-12-21T18:13:20ZengElsevierComputer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update2666-99002021-01-011100038Microbial contamination of mobile phone and its hygiene practices by medical students and doctors in a tertiary care hospital:A cross-sectional studyQasid Ahmad0Fizza Zubair1 Ameena2Amina Asif3Jalees Khalid Khan4Fareeha Imran5Ameer-ud-Din Medical College, Lahore, PakistanAmeer-ud-Din Medical College, Lahore, PakistanAmeer-ud-Din Medical College, Lahore, PakistanAmeer-ud-Din Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan; Post Graduate Medical Institute, Lahore General Hospital, Ameer-ud-Din Medical College, Pakistan; Corresponding author at: Post Graduate Medical Institute, Lahore General Hospital, Ameer-ud-Din Medical College, Pakistan.Post Graduate Medical Institute, Lahore General Hospital, Ameer-ud-Din Medical College, PakistanPost Graduate Medical Institute, Lahore General Hospital, Ameer-ud-Din Medical College, PakistanIntroduction: The incidence of hospital-acquired infections is on the rise globally. Mobile phones, used by healthcare workers, can be significant sources for harboring bacteria responsible forHAIs in health care setups. Objective: To assess the microbial contamination of mobile phones and the hygiene practices adopted by medical students and doctors in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Lahore General Hospital in March 2019. The samples included 259 mobile phones of medical students and doctors in various cadres in different clinical departments. The participants were inquired about their beliefs and practices about mobile phone cleaning and the cleaning agents used. The Pearson Chi-Square test was used for analyzing the data. The statistical significance level was set at p < 0.05 Results: All participants in the study had an average age of 25.46±5.621, including 56% males and 44% females. Of the total sample of 259 cases, 72.6% showed growth of one or more bacteria. . There was no correlation between the number of times mobile phones were cleaned and the number of bacteria present on their surfaces (p-value > 0.05). Most mobile phones (39.8%) were contaminated with one type of microbe, while 32.8% had more than one organism growing on them. Conclusion: Most of the mobile phones owned by the medical students and doctors were contaminated with bacterial pathogens. Despite the doctors’ claim of cleaning their gadgets, there was presence of microbes on them.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666990021000379Mobile phonesMicrobial contaminationBacterial transmissionHygiene practicesDoctors and medical studentsHealthcare environment |
| spellingShingle | Qasid Ahmad Fizza Zubair Ameena Amina Asif Jalees Khalid Khan Fareeha Imran Microbial contamination of mobile phone and its hygiene practices by medical students and doctors in a tertiary care hospital:A cross-sectional study Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update Mobile phones Microbial contamination Bacterial transmission Hygiene practices Doctors and medical students Healthcare environment |
| title | Microbial contamination of mobile phone and its hygiene practices by medical students and doctors in a tertiary care hospital:A cross-sectional study |
| title_full | Microbial contamination of mobile phone and its hygiene practices by medical students and doctors in a tertiary care hospital:A cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | Microbial contamination of mobile phone and its hygiene practices by medical students and doctors in a tertiary care hospital:A cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Microbial contamination of mobile phone and its hygiene practices by medical students and doctors in a tertiary care hospital:A cross-sectional study |
| title_short | Microbial contamination of mobile phone and its hygiene practices by medical students and doctors in a tertiary care hospital:A cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | microbial contamination of mobile phone and its hygiene practices by medical students and doctors in a tertiary care hospital a cross sectional study |
| topic | Mobile phones Microbial contamination Bacterial transmission Hygiene practices Doctors and medical students Healthcare environment |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666990021000379 |
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