Are mobile phones of health care workers portals of pathogenic organisms causing hospital acquired infections in intensive care units? A mini systematic review

Abstract

Background: Health care workers at the bedside of critically ill babies freely carry their mobile phones in between procedures and handling  patients. Concerns are rising as this may contribute to nosocomial infections with pathogenic bacteria.

Aim: To determine if mobile phones of health care workers in Intensive care units carry potentially pathogenic bacteria leading to hospital acquired infections.

Design: Systematic review.
Data sources: Electronic databases (Medline via ovid, CINAHL, Web of science) and hand Searching of references and citations were done to identify studies. Screening and inclusion criteria were used to identify studies with a cross-sectional or cohort design. The search was limited to journal articles published between 2008-2015 and to English language. Quality assessment was done using the National Institute of Health tool for observational studies. Data was extracted on to excel sheets and analysed using SPSS version 22.
Results: Six studies with a cohort (1) or cross-sectional design (5) involving 1, 131 health care workers were reviewed. The overall quality of the studies was fair, and a narrative synthesis was done. The colonization rate of the mobile phones ranged between 46.3 % and a 100% with 13-50% carrying potentially pathogenic multidrug resistant microorganisms. Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, Vancomycine resistant enterococci, acinobacter and coagulase negative staphylococci were reported across all studies and were recognized as leading causes of morbidity and mortality
in the ICU. Conclusion: Mobile phones Of HCW are portals of potentially pathogenic microorganisms, which could result in morbidity and mortality.
Although no causal relationship could be established, strong associations have been reported. Guidelines by hospital infection control committees are needed on restriction, care and routine cleaning of mobile phones as well as further research.

Key words: Health care worker, Intensive care unit, Hospital Acquired Infections, mobile phones