Background: Multidrug- resistant organisms (MDRO) are a serious concern in healthcareassociated infections. Hand hygiene (HH) is essential to prevent the spread of MDRO in the healthcare institutes. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the incidence of MDRO and hand hygiene compliance and the experimental effectiveness of alcohol-gel hand hygiene practice.

Methods: From March 2016 to September 2018, we analyzed the cross-correlation between the incidence of MDRO and the HH compliance each month at Gyeongsang National University Changwon Hospital. We employed an experiment to observe the effect of alcohol gel hand hygiene practice on the reduction of organisms on the hand surface using the handagar plates.

Results: Among the MDRO, only vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) showed a moderate correlation with the HH rate (r = 0.55). The hand-agar plate experiment showed a significant bacterial reduction for inadequate HH (mean 3.47 CFU) and optimal HH (mean, 0.84 CFU) than before HH (mean, 11.56 CFU) (n = 32, P = 0.006).

Conclusion: The incidence of VRE showed a moderate correlation with HH among MDRO in the longitudinal analysis. HH practice was more effective in preventing the spread of VRE compared with other MDRO in our institute. Optimal alcohol-gel HH practice can effectively remove bacteria on the hand surface.