Personal healthcare worker (HCW) and work-site characteristics that affect HCWs' use of respiratory-infection control measures in ambulatory healthcare settings.

Objectives: To identify healthcare worker (HCW) and work-site characteristics associated with HCWs' reported use of recommended respiratory-infection control practices in primary and emergency care settings.

Design: A cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire for HCWs during the summer and fall of 2005.

Setting: Primary and emergency care clinics at 5 medical centers in King County, Seattle, Washington.

Appraisal of recommended respiratory infection control practices in primary care and emergency department settings.

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic and concern about pandemic influenza prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop guidelines to prevent the transmission of all respiratory infections in health care settings during first contact with a potentially infected person. The extent to which health care workers and institutions use these CDC recommended practices is uncertain.

Methods: The study examined health care worker adherence to CDC recommended respiratory infection control practices in primary care clinics and emergency departments of 5 medical centers in King County, Washington, using a self-administered questionnaire.