The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of alcohol gel according to the amount and drying time in health personnel hand hygiene and to promote in their practice adequate and effective hand hygiene.

The cross-over experimental study was performed with 14 volunteers. Hands were artificially contaminated with 5 mL of 10⁸ CFU/mL of Serratia marcescens (ATCC 14756) and four different alcohol gel hand hygiene methods varying by the amount of alcohol gel (2 mL vs. 1 mL) and drying time (complete vs. incomplete) were compared. Samples were collected by glove juice sampling procedures.

Mean log reduction values of the four different hand hygiene methods were 2.22±0.36, 1.26±0.53, 1.49±0.60, 0.89±0.47 respectively for the 4 groups: adequate amount (2mL) and complete dry (30 seconds rubbing followed by 2 min air-dry), inadequate amount (1 mL) and complete dry, adequate amount and incomplete dry (15 seconds rubbing and no air-dry), and inadequate amount and incomplete dry. The difference was statistically significant in the adequate amount and complete dry group compared to other three groups (p<.001).

Only alcohol gel hand hygiene with adequate amount and complete drying was satisfactory by U.S. FDA-TFM efficacy requirements for antiseptic hand hygiene products.