Differential laundering practices of white coats and scrubs among health care professionals

The role played by health care worker's uniforms on the horizontal transmission of organisms within the hospital is still controversial. To determine the differential laundering practices in regards to white coats and scrubs, we surveyed physicians present at the 3 weekly academic conferences with largest attendance at our hospital (medicine, pediatrics, and anesthesiology). Out of 160 providers, white coats were washed every 12.4 +/- 1.1 days and scrubs every 1.7 +/- 0.1 days (mean +/- standard error; P < .001). Faculty physicians washed their scrubs more frequently than house staff (1.0 vs 1.9 days, respectively, P = .018), and no differences were observed among specialties. Copyright (c) 2013 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.