Key message

Division for the Health Services and Division for Infection Control and Environmental Health in The Norwegian Institute of Publich Health have cooperated on developing several systematic searches that will be used in a planned update of guidelines for infection control interventions in the health services. In this publication, we present the results of a systematic search after literature on use of clean disposable gloves to prevent infection in the health services.

Methods

We developed a systematic search after primary studies, reviews, guidelines and recommendations in Cochrane Library, Medline, EMBASE and CINAHL. The searches were run in September 2017. Two researchers independently screened all titles and abstracts of the identified references and evaluated their relevance according to the inclusion criteria.

Results

We identified 1803 references. Of these, we evaluated 55 as possibly relevant. They were sorted into eleven categories:

• Reviews, 4 references
• Multicomponent interventions where the use of clean disposable gloves is one component, effect of hand hygiene and gloves, 6 references
• Multicomponent interventions where the use of clean disposable gloves is one component, reduction of sepsis, 2 references
• Multicomponent interventions where the use of clean disposable gloves is one component, reduction of MRSA infection, 6 references
• Multicomponent interventions where the use of clean disposable gloves is one component, reduction of Clostridium difficile infection, 3 references
• Multicomponent interventions where the use of clean disposable gloves is one component, reduction of other microbes/bacteria, 8 references
• Comparison of sterile and clean gloves, 11 references
• Importance of gloves on contamination of staffs hands, 6 references
• Importance of additives in gloves, 6 references
• Importance of gloves for reduction of infection by perforation, 2 references

Infection due to contaminated gloves, 1 reference