Introduction:

Health care associated infections (IACS) have been related to the presence of multiresistant microorganisms on the surfaces and it is necessary to monitor their hygiene to ensure environmental safety. The application of the visual scale is simplifying, but the use of the luminometer, Adenosine Triphosphate Bioluminescence method, is promising in the control of hygiene.

Objectives:

Evaluate the effectiveness of the surface cleaning process.

Methods:

The prospective observational study was performed at a critical unit for five consecutive days. The sampling technique was non-probabilistic for convenience, being applied to the visual scale and the luminometer, before and after the hygiene of the surfaces. The hygienization process was performed by the same operating assistants, using the two step method and detergent / disinfectant product.

Results:

The sample includes 300 observations (150 before / 150 after) in the selected touch areas. Of the 131 observations, for a satisfactory value, 56 were measured by the luminometer and 75 by the visual scale. For unsatisfactory values, 169 observations, 94 were measured by the luminometer and 75 by the visual scale. After the hygienization process, from the observations with unsatisfactory values, 31 were identified by the luminometer and 18 by visual scale. Significant differences were found for unsatisfactory values (<500 RLU) in the luminometer and for satisfactory values (> 500 RLU) on the visual scale.

Conclusions:

The ATP method presents itself as an educational and monitoring / auditing tool to measure the quality of hygiene of high touch surfaces, and it is necessary to validate its contribution in the prevention of IACS.

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