The Medical Gloves Assessment Tool (MGAT): Developing and validating a quantitative tool for assessing the safety and ergonomic features related to medical gloves

Background Medical gloves play a very important role in protecting health care workers and patients. It is very important to pay attention to the safety and ergonomic properties of medical gloves in their protective function. Aim To develop a quantitative tool for evaluating the safety and ergonomic properties of the medical gloves. Methods Five hospitals with a total of 185 health care workers participated in the research. The domains and items of the tool were developed based on an expert's panel, interviews with health care workers and a literature review. Face, content and construct validity was used for validation. Reliability was also evaluated using internal consistency. Results The final tool included 26 items in six domains, including tactile sensation, dexterity, grip strength, fitting, reliability and hand hygiene. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.82 for the total scale. Conclusion The final tool had good validity and reliability. The findings of this study led to the development of a comprehensive standard tool that can be used to assess the ergonomic and safety status of medical gloves. Implications for Nursing Management With this tool, problems related to medical gloves can be identified among nurses, and the necessary interventions can be predicted.

Automated summary

The study developed a tool with 26 items in six domains, including tactile sensation, dexterity, grip strength, fitting, reliability and hand hygiene. The tool demonstrated good validity and reliability, providing a comprehensive assessment of the ergonomic and safety status of medical gloves.