Objective To evaluate surgical patients' caregivers' hand hygiene knowledge and to examine the discrepancy between reported knowledge and actual hand cleanliness following caregiving activities. Design Cross-sectional study.
Setting General surgery inpatient clinics of a tertiary university-affiliated hospital in Turkey. Participants Caregivers of patients hospitalised in general surgery inpatient clinics; a total of 128 caregivers participated.
Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary outcome was caregivers' hand hygiene knowledge score. The secondary outcome was observed hand cleanliness, assessed using fluorescent simulation gel and ultraviolet light across different hand regions.
Results Among the 128 caregivers (65.6% women; mean age 45.7±14.8 years), hand hygiene knowledge was high (mean score: 98.9±3.9). However, observations under ultraviolet light revealed residual contamination, particularly at the wrist.
Caregivers with clean wrists had significantly higher knowledge scores than those with contamination (p Conclusions Although caregivers of surgical patients demonstrated high hand hygiene knowledge, a gap between knowledge and observed practice was identified, particularly in less visible areas such as the wrists.
This report assessed what caregivers of hospitalized surgical patients knew about hand hygiene and whether their self-reported or tested knowledge corresponded to actual hand cleanliness after caregiving tasks.
The investigators also sought to identify specific hand regions with persistent contamination despite high knowledge.
Cross-sectional evaluation conducted in general surgery wards at a tertiary university-affiliated hospital in Turkey.
The sample comprised 128 caregivers of inpatients (mean age 45.7 ± 14.8 years; 65.6% female).
Primary measurement was a hand hygiene knowledge score.
Practical hand cleanliness was the secondary outcome, determined by applying a fluorescent simulation gel during caregiving and inspecting hands under ultraviolet light to detect residual contamination across anatomical regions.
Overall knowledge scores were high (mean 98.9 ± 3.9).
Despite this, ultraviolet inspection demonstrated remaining fluorescent material, with the wrist identified as a frequent site of residual contamination.
Caregivers whose wrists appeared clean on ultraviolet inspection had statistically higher knowledge scores than those with wrist contamination (p value reported).
The study highlights a discordance between measured knowledge and observed hand cleanliness.
Authors suggest that knowledge dissemination alone may be insufficient to change actual practice.
They propose that visual feedback methods and stronger involvement by healthcare staff could support improved hand hygiene technique and adherence.