Healthcare-Associated Infections and the Hospital Bed

OBJECTIVE: Bedframes are a potential source of bacterial contamination, fomites, and healthcare-associated infections for patients with active skin wounds and other underlying conditions. Bedframes also differ in their design, materials, texture, and ease of disassembly for cleaning. In this study, the authors evaluated five hospital bedframes in terms of retained soil and ease of cleaning as rated by volunteers. METHODS: Hospital mattresses were placed on five different bedframes and soiled with mock bodily fluids containing Geobacillus stearothermophilus endospores as an indicator organism for contamination. In a second set of experiments, volunteers evaluated the bedframes for ease of cleaning; fewer than 30% of the volunteers had experience cleaning in hospitals or had previously received infection-control training. Questionnaires evaluated subjective measures such as ease of cleaning and texture. RESULTS: Researchers observed a strong correlation between the initial amount of soil retained, the most probable number calculations of endospore counts, and the number of washes to reach extinction (no detectable endospores). Although volunteers' rankings for ease of cleaning were independent of the amount of soil retained, their rankings correlated with the actual washes to reach undetectable limits and bedframe materials that were perceived as harder to clean. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the importance of both bedframe design and user cleaning experience in reducing bedframes as a source of healthcare-associated infections.