Brazilian Mobile Phone Applications Related to Hand Hygiene and Their Applicability for Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify available mobile applications regarding education for hand hygiene and their applicability as a resource for nurses and other healthcare professionals. The aim was to assess the quality of the mobile apps for education on hand hygiene for health professionals. A review of mobile apps available from Apple App Store and Google Play Store in Brazil was conducted. The World Health Organization recommendations and the Mobile Application Rating Scale for evaluating quality were used. Six applications were selected, only three presented gamification elements incorporated into the learning method and only two of them-SureWash Pocket and Give Me 5-used the international recommendations to improve hand hygiene compliance in a more substantial and interactive way. The mean quality total score for the five rated apps was 3.41, indicating poor to acceptable quality. SureWash Pocket was the only application that reached Mobile Application Rating Scale ≥4 in all dimensions. These mobile applications can be used as complementary alternatives in addition to other available education strategies to improve the standards of hand hygiene and change the behavior of health professionals.