Investigating the effect of enhanced cleaning and disinfection of shared medical equipment on health-care-associated infections in Australia (CLEEN): a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised, controlled trial (13 August 2024)

Summary

There is a lack of high-quality evidence based on clinical endpoints for routine cleaning of shared medical equipment. This study published in The Lancet Infectious Disease assessed the effect of enhanced cleaning and disinfection of shared medical equipment on health-care-associated infections (HAIs) in hospitalised patients.

Content

What is the problem?

• There is a dearth of high-quality evidence, using meaningful patient outcomes, on the importance of cleaning shared medical equipment
• There is considerable variation and uncertainly in healthcare systems, locally and globally, about who is responsible for cleaning shared equipment
• The cleaning of shared medical equipment often falls to clinical staff, however cleaning is often not undertaken.
• Providing high-quality evidence helps quantify the role of cleaning shared equipment, thus informing future cleaning models.

What did the study find?

• Improving the cleaning and disinfection of shared medical equipment significantly reduced HAIs, underscoring the crucial role of cleaning in improving patient outcomes.
• Findings emphasise the need for dedicated approaches for cleaning shared equipment.
• Baseline, one in seven patients had a HAI, reducing to less than one in 10 patients
• In adjusted results, the authors identified a relative reduction of –34·5% in HAIs following the intervention.
• No adverse effects were reported.