Clinical trial NCT01192841: Bacterial Contamination of Workwear
Official title: Physician Dress Code And Microbial Colonization Of The White Coat: Does Physician Dress Code Alter Bacterial Colonization Rate On The Clothing Of Physicians?
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Bacterial Contamination of Physician Attire
Keywords: physician uniform
MRSA
bacterial contamination
Lead sponsor: Denver Health and Hospital Authority
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2010-09-01
Enrollment: 110
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Governmental agencies in the United Kingdom and Scotland have recently instituted guidelines banning physicians' white coats and wearing of long-sleeved garments to decrease hospital transmission of bacteria. The purpose of this study is to compare the bacterial contamination of physicians' white coats with that of newly laundered, standardized short-sleeved uniforms after an eight-hour workday and to determine the rate at which bacterial contamination of the uniform ensues. Our hypothesis was that the physician white coat would have more bacterial contamination at the end of the work day.

Detailed description: Governmental agencies in the United Kingdom and Scotland have recently instituted guidelines banning physicians' white coats and wearing of long-sleeved garments to decrease nosocomial transmission of bacteria. Our goal was to compare the degree of bacterial and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus contamination of physicians' white coats with that of newly laundered, standardized short-sleeved uniforms after an eight-hour workday and to determine the rate at which bacterial contamination of the uniform ensues. 100 interns, residents, and hospitalists on an internal medicine service were randomized to wear either physician white coat or newly laundered, short-sleeved uniform. Bacterial colony counts and the frequency with which methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was found was compared in the two groups and over time. Our initial hypothesis was that physician white coats would have more bacterial contamination at the end of the work day.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Internal medicine interns, residents, and hospitalists working on acute medicine ward service.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Not willing/unable to participate in study
* Not working a full 8 hour day in the hospital

Primary outcomes:
measure: Bacterial colony counts and the frequency with which methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was found over time
timeFrame: 8 hours
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Denver
country: United States
facility: Denver Health
state: Colorado
Study officials:
affiliation: Denver Health and Housing Authority
name: Marisha Burden, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Burden M, Cervantes L, Weed D, Keniston A, Price CS, Albert RK. Newly cleaned physician uniforms and infrequently washed white coats have similar rates of bacterial contamination after an 8-hour workday: a randomized controlled trial. J Hosp Med. 2011 Apr;6(4):177-82. doi: 10.1002/jhm.864. Epub 2011 Feb 10.