Current situation of recycling and transport of reused medical devices in 222 hospitals in Hubei province

HUANG Lulu; YANG Hanlin; ZHU Juan; YIN Shiyu

doi:10.12102/j.issn.2095-8668.2025.10.017

Abstract：Objective: To investigate the current situation of reusable medical instruments recovery and long-distance transfer between hospitals in the regional CSSD of Hubei Province, to identify weak links, and to better guide the disinfection and sterilization work. Methods: A convenience sampling method was used to select 222 medical institutions' CSSD staff from 16 cities in Hubei Province between February 20 and 27, 2023, as the research subjects. A self-designed questionnaire on the current situation of reusable medical instruments recovery and transfer was used for investigation. The questionnaire included three aspects: basic information of the hospital and CSSD, current status of recovery, and current status of transfer. Results: A total of 400 questionnaires were collected, with 394 valid ones, resulting in an effective response rate of 98.5%. Among them, the risk factors for instrument damage during the recovery process included bare placement of contaminated instruments by clinical departments, vehicle malfunctions, and the use of plastic bags for recovering contaminated instruments. The independent protective factors for instrument damage during long-distance inter-hospital transfer included regionalized CSSD, while the independent risk factor was the use of transport trucks with lifting platforms. Conclusion: The overall situation of reusable medical instruments recovery and transfer within hospitals in Hubei Province's CSSD is acceptable, but the standardization needs to be improved. The relevant systems for inter-hospital transfer need further improvement. The influencing factors for instrument damage during recovery and transfer differ between intra-hospital and inter-hospital processes, and targeted improvements can be made to effectively reduce adverse events during the recovery and transfer of instruments.