title: Wheelchair cleaning and disinfection in Canadian health care facilities: "That's wheelie gross!".
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Wheelchairs are complex equipment that come in close contact with individuals at increased risk of transmitting and acquiring antibiotic-resistant organisms and health care-associated infection. The purpose of this study was to determine the status of wheelchair cleaning and disinfection in Canadian health care facilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Acute care hospitals (ACHs), chronic care hospitals (CCHs), and long-term care facilities (LTCFs) were contacted and the individual responsible for oversight of wheelchair cleaning and disinfection was identified. A structured interview was conducted that focused on current practices and concerns, barriers to effective wheelchair cleaning and disinfection, and potential solutions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Interviews were completed at 48 of the 54 facilities contacted (89%), including 18 ACHs, 16 CCHs, and 14 LTCFs. Most (n = 24) facilities had 50-200 in-house wheelchairs. Respondents were very concerned about wheelchair cleaning as an infection control issue. Specific concerns included the lack of reliable systems for tracking and identifying dirty and clean wheelchairs (71%, 34/48), failure to clean and disinfect wheelchairs between patients (52%, 25/48), difficulty cleaning cushions (42%, 20/48), lack of guidelines (35%, 27/48), continued use of visibly soiled wheelchairs (29%, 14/48) and lack of resources (25%, 12/48).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that wheelchair cleaning and disinfection is not optimally performed at many Canadian hospitals and LTCFs. Specific guidance on wheelchair cleaning and disinfection is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and Innovation, Bridgepoint Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Health Sciences, Brock University, St Catharines, ON, Canada. Electronic address: paula.gardner@brocku.ca.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.affiliation: St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Matthew P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.affiliation: Bridgepoint Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Betty
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Prior
authors.affiliation: Bridgepoint Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: So
authors.affiliation: Bridgepoint Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tooze
authors.affiliation: Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and Innovation, Bridgepoint Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Eum
authors.affiliation: Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and Innovation, Bridgepoint Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Oksana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kachur
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003666:Decontamination / Q000379:methods*; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D014910:Wheelchairs / Q000382:microbiology*
keywords: Cleaning; Disinfection; Health care–associated infection; Wheelchair