Impact of a single plain finger ring on the bacterial load on the hands of healthcare workers

OBJECTIVE. To investigate the impact of a single plain finger ring on the number and types of bacteria on the hands of healthcare workers ( HCWs). DESIGN. Nonequivalent control groups, posttest only ( preexperimental). METHODS. A total of 121 HCWs wearing 1 plain ring and 113 HCWs wearing no rings had both hands sampled by the "glove juice" technique. Quantitative culture of the samples was performed and microorganisms were identified. SETTING. Two Norwegian acute care hospitals. PARTICIPANTS. A total of 234 HCWs who had physical contact with patients. RESULTS. Total bacterial counts did not differ when hands with rings and hands without rings were compared, both according to nonpaired analysis ( which compared the ring-bearing hands of ring-wearing HCWs to the hands of HCWs who did not wear rings [P = .661]) and according to paired analysis ( which compared the ring-bearing and ring-free hands of ring-wearing HCWs [P = .071]). Staphylococcus aureus was recovered from 18.6% of the hands sampled, belonging to 26.9% of the HCWs, but neither paired nor nonpaired analysis showed any association with ring wearing. Gram-negative bacteria were recovered from 20.3% of the hands sampled, belonging to 28.6% of the HCWs. Ring-wearing HCWs were significantly more likely to be carriers of Enterobacteriaceae (P = .006), but paired comparison of the ring-bearing and ring-free hands of these HCWs did not show significant differences (P = .180). Carriage of nonfermentative gram-negative rods did not differ between the 2 groups, by either paired or nonpaired analysis. CONCLUSIONS. Wearing a single plain finger ring did not increase the total bacterial load on the hands, nor was it associated with an increased rate of carriage of S. aureus or nonfermentative gram-negative rods. However, plain rings were associated with an increased rate of Enterobacteriaceae carriage.