# Optimization path and implementation effectiveness of infection prevention and control interventions in a children’s hospital: a quantitative assessment

## TL;DR

This study shows how quantitative assessments of infection control measures in a children's hospital improved staff compliance and reduced healthcare-associated infections.

## Contribution

The study introduces a quantitative assessment framework for infection prevention and control in a children's hospital setting.

## Key findings

- Healthcare-associated infection incidence and multidrug-resistant organism detection rates decreased significantly in the experimental group.
- Hand hygiene compliance among healthcare staff improved significantly after implementing IPC measures.
- Compliance with standard IPC practices increased annually across the hospital and high-risk departments.

## Abstract

This study aims to perform innovative quantitative assessments in managing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) to pave the way for effective methods and pathways toward precise infection prevention and control (IPC).

A total of 61 diagnosis and treatment departments of a tertiary grade A children’s hospital were included in this study. By establishing a quantitative assessment form, we determined the database of IPC assessment indicators and implemented basic IPC quantitative assessment practices. The pre-practice stage (January 2017-December 2020) was set as the control group, and the practice stage (January 2021-December 2024) was set as the experimental group. A comparison of quality control indicators related to HAIs was conducted between the two groups, along with the observation of trends in IPC compliance rates at the hospital level and in key departments following implementation.

The incidence rate of HAIs and the detection rate of multidrug-resistant organism infections in the experimental group were both lower than those in the control group, with p-values of <0.001 and <0.05, respectively. The hand hygiene compliance rate among healthcare staff significantly improved (p < 0.001). The implementation of IPC measures led to a yearly increase in compliance with standard precautions, cleaning, disinfection, sterilization, and isolation across the hospital, and these improvements were statistically significant (p < 0.001). The compliance rate of IPC interventions in high-risk departments increased annually (p < 0.01).

The implementation of a quantitative assessment based on the quantified management of IPC interventions enabled the hospital and its departments to enhance the quality of their essential IPC management. It also improved the behavior of healthcare staff in implementing IPC and reduced the occurrence of HAIs.