Hospital-acquired insomnia scale: A validity and reliability study

BACKGROUND

Sleep breathing, one of the basic human needs, is a physiological need that affects cardiac functions, body temperature, daily vitality, muscle tone, hormone secretion, blood pressure, and many more. In the international literature, studies reported that patients have had sleep problems in the hospital since the 1990s, but no measurement tool has been developed to determine the causes of hospital-acquired insomnia in individuals. These findings suggest that sleep remains in the background compared to activities such as nutrition and breathing. Although patients generally experience hospital-acquired sleep problems, there is no measurement tool to determine hospital-acquired sleep problems. These features show the originality of the research.

AIM

To develop a measurement tool to determine the sleep problems experienced by patients in the hospital.

METHODS

A personal information form, hospital-acquired insomnia scale (HAIS), and insomnia severity index (ISI) were used to collect research data. The study population consisted of patients hospitalized in the internal and surgical clinics of a research hospital in Turkey between December 2021 and March 2022. The sample consisted of 64 patients in the pilot application stage and 223 patients in the main application stage. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) analyses were performed using the SPSS 20 package program and the analysis of moment structure (AMOS) package program. Equivalent forms method used.

RESULTS

The HAIS consisted of 18 items and 5 subscales. The Cronbach alpha values of the subscales ranged between 0.672 and 0.842 and the Cronbach alpha value of the overall scale was 0.783. The scale explained 58.269% of the total variance. The items that constitute the factors were examined in terms of content integrity and named as physical environmental, psychological, safety, socioeconomic, and nutritional factors. CFA analysis of the 5-factor structure was performed in the AMOS package program. The fit indices of the obtained structure were examined. It was determined that the values obtained from the fit indices were sufficient. A significant correlation was determined between the HAIS and the ISI, which was used for the equivalent form method.

CONCLUSION

The HAIS is a valid and reliable measurement tool for determining patients’ level of hospital-acquired insomnia. It is recommended to use this measurement tool to determine the insomnia problems of patients and to adapt it in other countries.

Occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs: what about hospital sanitation personnel?

OBJECTIVE

Occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs (ANPs) occurs mainly through dermal contact. Our study was set up to assess the potential exposure of hospital sanitation (HS) personnel, for whom almost no data are available, through contamination of surfaces they regularly touch.

METHODS

In the oncology departments of two hospitals around Montreal, surface wipe samples of 120-2000 cm² were taken at 10 sites cleaned by the HS personnel and five other sites frequently touched by nursing and pharmacy personnel. A few hand wipe samples were collected to explore skin contamination. Wipes were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry for 10 ANPs.

RESULTS

Overall, 60.9% of 212 surface samples presented at least one ANP above the limits of detection (LOD). Cyclophosphamide and gemcitabine were most often detected (52% and 31% of samples respectively), followed by 5-fluorouracil and irinotecan (15% each). Highest concentrations of five ANPs were found in outpatient clinics on toilet floors (5-fluorouracil, 49 ng/cm²; irinotecan, 3.6 ng/cm²), a perfusion pump (cyclophosphamide, 19.6 ng/cm²) and on a cytotoxic waste bin cover (gemcitabine, 4.97 ng/cm²). Floors in patient rooms had highest levels of cytarabine (0.12 ng/cm²) and methotrexate (6.38 ng/cm²). Hand wipes were positive for two of 12 samples taken on HS personnel, seven of 18 samples on nurses, and two of 14 samples on pharmacy personnel.

CONCLUSIONS

A notable proportion of surfaces showed measurable levels of ANPs, with highest concentrations found on surfaces cleaned by HS personnel, who would benefit from appropriate preventive training. As potential sources of worker exposure, several hospital surfaces need to be regularly monitored to evaluate environmental contamination and efficacy of cleaning.

Evaluation of disinfection of surfaces at an outpatient unit before and after an intervention program

BACKGROUND

Cleaning and disinfection processes must be improved so that there is a reduction in environmental contamination of frequent-contact surfaces. The objective of this study was to evaluate cleaning and disinfection of surfaces at a specialized healthcare unit after an intervention program.

METHODS

Exploratory, longitudinal, and correlational study carried out in a medium-complexity clinic. Two hundred and forty samples from five surfaces were collected during three phases: diagnosis; implementation of an intervention program; and evaluation of immediate and long-term effects. In total, 720 evaluations were made, performed through three monitoring methods: visual inspection; adenosine triphosphate bioluminescence assay (ATP); and aerobic colony count (ACC). The Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney, and Fisher's Exact tests were run to analyze data statistically.

RESULTS

Cleaning and disinfection of surfaces were not being performed properly in most cases. Failure rates of surfaces reached 37.5 and 100% when the ATP and ACC procedures were used, respectively. However, after an intervention program, an improvement occurred. Success rates increased by 43.96% (ATP) and 12.46% (ACC) in phase I, by 70.6% (ATP) and 82.3% (ACC) immediately after interventions, and by 76.52% (ATP) and 85.76% (ACC) two months after the changes, showing that the program was effective.

CONCLUSION

The present study reveals that implementing intervention actions with a cleaning and healthcare team brings benefits to prevent the spread of pathogenic agents through frequently touched hospital surfaces.