High Bed Occupancy Rates in Internal Medicine Departments Are Associated with Lower Hand Hygiene Compliance

<i>Background and Objectives:</i> The growing number of patients seeking medical care in the internal medicine departments over the past decades has been accompanied by an increase in the bed occupancy rate. This is associated with a heavier work burden among the professional staff members, which may lead to a lower quality of care. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the association between the bed occupancy rate and staff compliance with hand hygiene regulations. <i>Materials and Methods:</i> This ecological study included 9 internal medicine departments (~300 beds) in a single medical center between 01/2017 and 12/2019. Routine hand hygiene performance was evaluated randomly, and the association between the bed occupancy rate and the staff's compliance with the hospital regulations was studied. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed by the generalized estimating equation model. <i>Results:</i> The study included 12,736 episodes that warranted hand hygiene practices ("opportunities"). The overall hand hygiene performance rate was 78.3% (physicians 76.2%, nurses 80.7%, and healthcare assistants 76.9%). There was an approximately 2% decline in staff compliance for each 10% increase in bed occupancy rate (adjusted IRR 0.98, 95%CI 0.97-0.99, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Stratification by staff members showed a significant decline in routine hand hygiene practices among physicians (adjusted IRR 0.97, 95%CI 0.95-0.99, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and healthcare assistants (adjusted IRR 0.97, 95%CI 0.96-0.99, <i>p</i> < 0.001) but not among nurses (adjusted IRR 0.99, 95%CI 0.98-1.01, <i>p</i> = 0.392). <i>Conclusions:</i> An increase in bed occupancy rate is associated with a decrease in the hospital staff's compliance with hand hygiene and therefore may lead to a lower quality of care.