Stethoscope Hygiene: Practice and Attitude of Medical Students

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency and attitude of medical students towards cleaning their stethoscopes. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the first week of December 2013. The study included 771 students (397 in their fourth and 374 in their sixth year) from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to students before the start of compulsory lessons in classrooms. Results: 317 of the 397 fourth-year students (79.8%) and 306 of the 374 sixth-year students (81.9%) cleaned their stethoscope. The stethoscope diaphragm was most commonly cleaned, while the flexible tubing was the least commonly cleaned area, mainly using ethyl alcohol-based agents. The strongest positive attitude was observed for the statement ‘It is important that my stethoscope is clean' (4.3 out of 5.0). A positive correlation (Spearman's ρ = 0.105) was observed between a higher frequency of cleaning and the stronger positive notion that a stethoscope should be cleaned. Conclusion: A considerably high proportion of the students studied had ever cleaned their stethoscopes. Based on the students' responses, it would be useful to implement instructions on stethoscope hygiene in the regular practical curriculum with the aim of applying stethoscope disinfection in daily work.

Stethoscope disinfection is rarely done in Ethiopia: What are the associated factors?

“…In this study, it was found that healthcare providers who had a favorable attitude towards infection prevention were almost two times more likely to disinfect their stethoscope after very use than healthcare providers who had an unfavorable attitude. The current finding was in agreement with a study conducted by Gazibara et al [48], which reported a positive correlation between a higher frequency of stethoscope cleaning and stronger positive notion that a stethoscope should be cleaned.…”

Stethoscope disinfection is rarely done in Ethiopia: what are the associated factors?

“…It was found that healthcare providers who had favorable attitude towards infection prevention were 1.73 times more likely to disinfect their stethoscope after very use than those healthcare providers who had unfavorable attitude. The current finding was in agreement with a study conducted by Gazibara et al [41], which reported a positive correlation between a higher frequency of stethoscope cleaning and the stronger positive notion that a stethoscope should be cleaned. In line with this finding a study conducted in Addis Ababa also reported a significant positive association between positive attitude towards infection prevention and good infection prevention practices [27].…”

“…However, the current finding was lower than the finding from Serbia, in which (80.8%) of the respondent clean their stethoscopes [41], and a study from French, reported (82%) of study participants clean their stethoscopes regularly or from time to time [42]. Additionally, the current finding was much lower than a study from Scotland, in which 78.6% of respondents clean their stethoscopes [43].…”

Stethoscope, “the friendly foe” – A study to evaluate bacterial contamination of stethoscopes and disinfection practices

“…The colony forming units (CFUs) obtained were noted and the bacterial isolates were identified by standard microbiology identification techniques [6]. The antimicrobial susceptibility pattern for the isolated strains was determined as per clinical laboratory standards institute (CLSI) guidelines and drug resistant bacteria like methicillin resistant Staphylocoocus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin resistance in gram positive cocci, extended spectrum β lactamase (ESBL) and metallo β lactamase (MBL) production in gram negative bacteria were also tested [7,8].…”