Public Health Center Strategies to Develop Infection Control Practices for Hospital Sinks in Kawaguchi City

Introduction The Kawaguchi City Public Health Center (PHC) conducted training sessions (TSs) focusing on infection control (IC) practices for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) at healthcare facilities (HCFs) in its jurisdiction in June 2023. We planned to examine whether the TS programs by the PHC have had any effect on the development of IC practices for hospital sinks, to support the hospitals in their development of IC practices to prevent MDRO infections. In this study, we aim to identify effective PHC strategies for developing hospital sink IC practices using post-TS survey results. Methods In June 2023, we completed a TS for 30 HCFs, offered information on IC practices, and then sent out a questionnaire. We examined both current IC practices and practices that the hospitals intended to conduct for sinks and identified the first learned information from the TSs organized by the PHC. Results Twenty-four HCFs responded to the survey, a response rate of 80.0%. Current IC practices for hospital sinks included refraining from disposing substances like medications and liquid food (refrain from disposing) by 16 hospitals (66.7%), dedicating sinks for handwashing (dedicate sinks) by 14 hospitals (58.3%), installing splash guards by two hospitals (8.3%), and keeping supplies off surfaces within 1 m of the sinks (keep supplies off) by two hospitals (8.3%). IC practices that hospitals planned to conduct for sinks included refraining from disposing by two hospitals (8.3%), dedicating sinks by two hospitals (8.3%), installing splash guards by six hospitals (25.0%), and keeping supplies off by seven hospitals (29.2%). Components of the first learned information included the effects of cleaning bundles by 10 hospitals (41.7%), knowledge sharing organized by the PHC for four hospitals (16.7%) and the effect of TSs on IC, such as a decrease in MDROs associated with TSs (the effect of TSs) by three hospitals (12.5%).The first piece of learned information "the effect of TSs (evidence that TSs reduce MDRO infections)" was significantly associated with the intention of dedicating sinks (p = 0.008). Other planned IC practices for sinks such as refraining from disposing substances, installing splash guards, and keeping supplies off were not associated with the TS programs. Conclusions Planned IC practices such as dedicating sinks for handwashing were linked to providing information on the effects of the TSs. We suggest that the PHC should develop TSs, including information about the effects of TSs, for IC practices that cannot be strengthened without staff support.