Abstract

Objective: Healthcare workers’ mobile phones can be colonized by bacteria known to cause nosocomial infections. The aim of this study is to determine contamination of mobile phones of health care workers in the intensive care units and the operating room and the risk factors related to microbial contamination.

Methods: A total of 96 culture samples were taken from mobile phones of health care workers who work in the Anesthesia, Internal Medicine and Pediatric Intensive Care Units and the Operating Room. A questionnaire about mobile phone usage habits was administered. The samples were screened for bacterial pathogens by standard bacteriological procedures. The methicillin sensitivity of Staphylococcus aureus isolates was tested.

Results: The rate of bacterial contamination of mobile phones of health care workers was 90.6%. There was no relationship between gender, age and occupation of healthcare workers and mobile phone bacterial contamination (p value 0.270, 0.796, 0.414, respectively). In the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the rate of bacterial contamination was significantly lower than the other departments (p<0.001). Coagulase-negative staphylococci (57%) were the most frequently isolated bacteria followed by Bacillus spp. (32%), methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (5%), Pseudomonas stutzeri (2%), P. aeruginosa (1%), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (1%), Sphingomonas paucimobilis (1%) and Aeromonas hydrophila/caviae (1%).

Conclusions: It has been concluded that mobile phones of healthcare workers are contaminated with microorganisms which may be the cause of nosocomial infection. In order to increase awareness of healthcare workers about the possible risks of using mobile phones in the hospital environment, “mobile phone usage rules” and “mobile phone decontamination” methods should be added to infection control measures and the effectiveness of these measures should be evaluated. Klimik Dergisi 2018; 31(3): 227-31.

Cite this article as: Güldaş N, Alp-Çavuş S, Gülay Z. [Investigation of microbial contamination of health care workers’ mobile phones in intensive care units and operating room]. Klimik Derg. 2018; 31(3): 227-31. Turkish.