Relationship between hospital ward design and healthcare-associated infection rates: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The influence of the hospital’s infrastructure on healthcare-associated colonization and infection rates has thus far infrequently been examined. In this review we examine whether healthcare facility design is a contributing factor to multifaceted infection control strategies.

We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) from 1990 to December 31^st, 2015, with language restriction to English, Spanish, German and French.

We identified three studies investigating accessibility of the location of the antiseptic hand rub dispenser. Each of them showed a significant improvement of hand hygiene compliance or agent consumption with the implementation of accessible dispensers near the patient bed. Nine eligible studies evaluated the impact of single-patient rooms on the acquisition of healthcare-associated colonization and infections in comparison to multi-bedrooms or an open ward design. Six of these studies showed a significant benefit of single-patient bedrooms in reducing the healthcare-associated colonization and infection rate, whereas three studies found that single-patient rooms are neither a protective nor risk factor. In meta-analyses, the overall risk ratio for acquisition of healthcare-associated colonization and infection was 0.55 (95% CI: 0.41 to 0.74), for healthcare-associated colonization 0.52 (95% CI: 0.32 to 0.85) and for bacteremia 0.64 (95% CI: 0.53 to 0.76), all in favor of patient care in single-patient bedrooms.

Implementation of single-patient rooms and easily accessible hand rub dispensers located near the patient’s bed are beneficial for infection control and are useful parts of a multifaceted strategy for reducing healthcare-associated colonization and infections.