Relationship between hospital ward design and healthcare-associated infection rates: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Stiller, Andrea; Salm, Florian; Bischoff, Peter; Gastmeier, Petra

The review of the available evidence showed that an easily accessible antiseptic hand rub dispenser enhances the healthcare worker's hand hygiene compliance rate on acute care units. Furthermore, metaanalyses revealed the benefit of single-patient rooms in reducing the risk of colonization with (multi-)drug resistant pathogens or infections with any pathogen. In order to reduce the risk of transmission in multipatient bedrooms, the transmission route of the suspected pathogens should be considered. Consequently, a certain distance between patients' beds should be maintained to prevent droplet transmission and to allow equipment and healthcare workers to move freely between adjacent beds. This leads us to the conclusion that hospital ward design contributes to infection control measures. It is essential to perform further controlled trials to study the effects of an easily accessible AHRD on the hand hygiene compliance rate more precisely and on healthcare-associated infection rates in particular. Well-designed controlled trials investigating the impact of single-patient rooms and the influence of the proximity between patients' beds on the acquisition of healthcare-associated infections and colonization are imperative.