BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS’ MOBILE PHONES IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTER IN SAUDI ARABIA.

Abstract

Background: Mobile phones provide health care workers' (HCWs) with fast communication and quick access to medical information. Their frequent use in the hospital environment may pose a risk of spreading nosocomial infections. In this study, we aimed to determine the bacterial contamination of HCWs' mobile phones. Materials/Methods: Samples were collected from mobiles of HCWs' atKing Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh. A swab takenfrom the mobile phone and a questionnaire was answered by each subject. The swabs were sent to the lab for culture, carrying a serial number to indicate the questionnaire. Results: Of the 400 mobile phone samples, 171 (43%) showed bacterial growth. Different variables were examined. The number of male HCWs sampled was 167, 90 of them (54%) showed positive growth, while only 81(35%) of the 233 samples taken from female participants showed positive growth (p-value= <0.005). In addition, samples taken from phones that are frequently cleaned (226 samples) showed 10% less growth than mobile phones that are not frequently cleaned (p-value= 0.049). The most commonly isolated organism was Coagulase negative Staphylococci, which were isolated from 121(30%) phones of the mobile phones sampled. Discussion: More than one third of the HCWs' mobile phones were contaminated with bacteria. Our results showed that the degree of bacterial contamination in KAMC-Riyadh is less than studies done in other countries. The most common isolated organism in many of the reviewed studies was methicillin sensitive S.aureus, while in our study it was coagulase negative Staphylococci. Conclusion:More than one third of the HCWs mobile phones were contaminated by bacteria. The results support the claim that HCWs' mobile phones may serve as vectors for transmission of nosocomial infections, and that cleaning mobile phones may reduce this risk. Introduction:-Mobile phones provide healthcare workers (HCWs) with faster communication and quick access to information, hence, they are usually kept near-at-hand. 7 Some hospitals are even using mobile phones instead of pagers. 9, 10 There are currently no guidelines on mobile phone cleaning and handling in the medical field. Whenever HCWs use their mobile phones, they may transmit organisms from their hands to their mobile phones. As a result, HCWs' mobile phones serve as reservoirs for these microorganisms that could be easily transmitted back to the HCWs' hands. In this way, mobile phones may facilitate the transmission of nosocomial infections. Many studies have supported this claim: a study done in Turkey has shown that 94% of HCWs' mobile phones and hands in operating rooms and intensive care units demonstrated evidence of bacterial contamination with different types of bacterial organisms. 31.3% of the mobile phones sampled were contaminated with gram negative strains.