title: Newly cleaned physician uniforms and infrequently washed white coats have similar rates of bacterial contamination after an 8-hour workday: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Governmental agencies in the United Kingdom and Scotland have recently instituted guidelines banning physicians' white coats and the wearing of long-sleeved garments to decrease nosocomial transmission of bacteria.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim 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 8-hour workday and to determine the rate at which bacterial contamination of the uniform ensued.
  
  
  METHODS
  The design was a prospective, randomized controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  The setting was a university-affiliated public safety-net hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred residents and hospitalists on an internal medicine service participated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects wore either a physician's white coat or a newly laundered short-sleeved uniform.
  
  
  METHODS
  Bacterial colony count and the frequency with which methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was cultured from both garments over time were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No statistically significant differences were found in bacterial or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus contamination of physicians' white coats compared with newly laundered short-sleeved uniforms or in contamination of the skin at the wrists of physicians wearing either garment. Colony counts of newly laundered uniforms were essentially zero, but after 3 hours of wear they were nearly 50% of those counted at 8 hours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bacterial contamination occurs within hours after donning newly laundered short-sleeved uniforms. After 8 hours of wear, no difference was observed in the degree of contamination of uniforms versus infrequently laundered white coats. Our data do not support discarding long-sleeved white coats for short-sleeved uniforms that are changed on a daily basis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Denver Health, Denver, Colorado, USA. Marisha.burden@dhha.org
authors.forename: Marisha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burden
authors.forename: Lilia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cervantes
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weed
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keniston
authors.forename: Connie S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: Richard K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Albert
mesh_terms: D058491:Bacterial Load / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D003020:Clothing / Q000592:standards*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D003902:Detergents / Q000592:standards*; D004866:Equipment Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010820:Physicians / Q000592:standards*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012606:Scotland; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D003902:Detergents