Evaluating methods with 15 types of high-touch surface, researchers compared the visual clean standard with fluorescent marker removal and adensosine triphosphate quantification. All non-biologic methods were compared to a culture for aerobic colony counts as a control.
They found the following results for each method’s demonstration of clean, sensitivity to clean surfaces and specificity to detect a clean surface:
- Aerobic colony culture — 72% clean, comparison standard, comparison standard)
- Visual clean — 57% clean, 60% sensitivity, 52% specificity
- Fluorescent marker — 49% clean, 51% sensitivity, 56% specificity
- ATP quantification — 66% clean, 71% sensitivity, 44% specificity
Researchers concluded visual inspection is an acceptable and cheap alternative to non-biologic evaluations of post-discharge clean.
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