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This study used quantitative microbial risk assessment to estimate the economic costs associated with the use of jet air dryers compared to paper towels for hand drying. In NHS hospital clinical settings, jet air dryers were associated with an estimated median avoidable healthcare-associated infection cost of 58 million pounds per year, representing approximately 2.1% of total HCAI expenditure in the affected hospital population. When the same contamination differential was applied to public restroom use across the EU workforce, the modeled shift to paper towels corresponded to a median estimated productivity gain of 1.7 billion euros annually through reduced absenteeism.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that hand-drying method selection in clinical and public settings has quantifiable economic consequences that current facility management practices do not systematically account for. If the underlying contamination data and modeling assumptions hold up to peer review, this could inform infection control policy in hospitals and public infrastructure planning.
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⚠️ Preprint – Noch nicht peer-reviewed
Dieser Artikel wurde noch nicht von unabhängigen Experten begutachtet. Die Ergebnisse sind vorläufig und sollten mit Vorsicht interpretiert werden.
Background: The choice of hand-drying method affects microbial contamination levels but its economic consequences have not been systematically quantified. Methods: By applying a quantitative microbial risk assessment framework, we translated the documented contamination differential between jet air dryers and paper towels into infection risk estimates, and embedded these into an established health economic model of healthcare-associated infections in NHS hospitals and an illustrative productivity analysis for the EU workforce. Results: The median estimated avoidable HCAI cost attributable to jet air dryer presence in UK NHS clinical areas was 58 million pounds per year, representing 2.1% of total HCAI expenditure for the affected hospital population, with a 50% certainty interval of 33-84 million pounds. Extended to the EU workforce, the same contamination differential implied a median of 1.7 billion euros in annual productivity gains, due to reduced absenteeism, for a shift to use of paper towels in public restrooms. Conclusions: These findings suggest that hand-drying method selection carries measurable economic implications that are not currently reflected in facility management practice. The evidence supports the prioritisation of paper towels in clinical and public settings as a cost-effective infection control measure
Source: The economic gains of tissue papers hygiene benefits