Reviewed by Jen Cihlar, DO, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
In this point prevalence study between October 26, 2020 to December 16, 2020, Hsi et al evaluated complete UV mark removal at 24 hours and 7 days of a total of 3,300 high touch objects throughout 11 different nursing homes. Controlling for object type and COVID-19 cohorting of confirmed, possible and negative cases, there was a statistical significance in failure to remove UV markers in rooms of those with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) compared to those without (at 24 hours OR 1.68; P=.03 and at 7 days OR 1.36; P=.04). This study highlights how nursing home environmental cleaning during the first wave of the pandemic disproportionately affected those with ADRD even after controlling for COVID-19 designation. Differential rates of room cleaning among patients with ADRD could potentially be due to insufficient staffing, lack of time, persons with ADRD being less able to advocate for themselves, possibly intentional or unintentional avoidance of spending more time cleaning those rooms. This is a vulnerable population who are at risk for multi-drug resistant organism colonization or infection, and we need to better identify the barriers and possible solutions to cleaning rooms of residents with ADRD.
Reference:
Hsi JB,et al. (2023). Impact of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) on the quality of room cleaning in nursing homes. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2023.7
