[Assessing the wearing of jewellery by French healthcare professionals].
OBJECTIVE
A prospective observation study was undertaken in seven medical centers, in the French region Alpes-Maritime, to assess nail hygiene of healthcare professionals and how often they wear hand jewellery.


METHODS
Seven hundred and six healthcare workers in seven medical centers were interviewed from March to April 2008.


RESULTS
Among the 706 professionals, 306 (43%) were wearing one or several pieces of jewellery. The nails of 81 (11.5%) were non-standard according to guidelines. Three hundred and forty-four health care professionals (49%) were wearing one or several pieces of jewellery and/or presented with non-standard nails. In univariate analysis, the wearing of jewellery was linked to the medical centre (P<0.001), to the professional category (p<0.001), to the number of times people washed their hands or used hand gel per day (ABHR) by categories (<10 times per day or ≥10 times per day) (P<0.017). In the multivariate analysis, the risk factors linked to the wearing of jewellery were the medical centers, the professional category, and the age.


CONCLUSIONS
There are still too many healthcare professionals who do not comply to French recommendations on hand hygiene concerning the wearing of jewellery and nail hygiene standards.
Centre de réhabilitation cardiorespiratoire, centre de soins de suite et de rééducation La Maison du Mineur, 577 avenue Henri-Giraud, Vence, France. f.vandenbos@maisondumineur.com
F
F
Vandenbos
J
J
Gal
M
M
Dandine
C
C
Six
P
P
Veyres
V
V
Chappuis
M
M
Diez
L
L
Mazzoni
G
G
Daideri
I
I
Bodokh
A
A
Carassou-Maillan
E
E
Chamorey
D003358:Cosmetics; D005602:France; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006225:Hand; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D017757:Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient / Q000517:prevention & control; D055498:Jewelry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009262:Nails; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D003358:Cosmetics