What's growing on General Practitioner's stethoscope?
Ann Ig
; 28(5): 367-72, 2016.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27627668
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Non-critical medical devices, as stethoscopes, have long been considered as vectors in microorganisms' transmission. Cleaning standards for non-critical medical equipment are often unclear. This study was designed to assess the attitude of General Practitioners (GPs) towards cleaning their stethoscope and the degree of microbiological contamination of doctor's instrument in outpatient setting. STUDYDESIGN:
Observational, crossover study.METHODS:
A structured questionnaire was administered to GPs to test their knowledge about medical instrument's cleanliness recommendations and the surface of the diaphragm of their stethoscopes was analyzed for bacteriological isolates using mass spectrometry technique.RESULTS:
Most of GPs declared they don't know cleaning recommendations for non-critical medical devices and a relevant bacterial growth was identified on the majority of the stethoscopes' membranes. Almost all microbiological isolates resulted typically found in cutaneous flora.CONCLUSIONS:
We can't state that the GP's stethoscopes feature a risk of transmission for microbiological pathogens; anyway, because of the level of contamination we observed, cleaning recommendations to disinfect instruments on a regular basis should be better indicated.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Desinfecção
/
Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde
/
Contaminação de Equipamentos
/
Estetoscópios
/
Clínicos Gerais
/
Pediatras
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Observational_studies
/
Qualitative_research
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2016
Tipo de documento:
Article