title: Profile of anesthetic infection control in Taiwan: a questionnaire report.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate compliance of anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists with personal hygiene and anesthetic equipment disinfection procedures in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey instrument.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists working in medical and non-medical centers in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  81 anesthesiologists and 181 nurse anesthetists working in medical and non-medical centers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Questionnaires were sent to 500 anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists in Taiwan. Two hundred sixty-two (52%) completed questionnaires (127 from medical centers and 135 from non-medical centers). Completed questionnaires were divided into two groups: those from medical centers (Group A) and those from non-medical centers (Group B). There was no significant difference in personal hygienic practices (wearing gloves and washing hands) between Groups A and B. There were significant differences between anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists in wearing gloves (65.3% vs. 82%; P = 0.001) and hand washing (52.6% vs. 70.4%; P = 0.003). Medical center anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists performed better than their non-medical-center counterparts when using disinfection procedures and disinfectants for laryngoscope blades and the cleaning of fiberscopes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Teaching programs should include anesthesia infection control in the curriculum for anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Kuang Tien General Hospital, Dajia Branch, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Richard C H
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Or
authors.forename: Teng K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Kuo M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.forename: Fu C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Ying H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Edmund C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: So
mesh_terms: D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000295:instrumentation; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation; D017575:Gloves, Protective / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D020704:Laryngoscopes / Q000382:microbiology; D009719:Nurse Anesthetists; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan