Table 6 Percentages of reprocessing cycles following standard autoclaving practices
Standard practices | Estimate | Standard Error | 95% Confidence Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lower | Upper | |||
Timer is used to monitor holding period of the manually controlled autoclave cycle | 6.4% | 2.8% | 2.4% | 16.1% |
Holding period of the autoclave cycle starts when the pressure gauze shows the reading of required pressure (e.g.15 lbs) | 18.2% | 8.0% | 6.3% | 42.4% |
Indicators used for monitoring sterilization process | ||||
 Autoclave tape | 48.7% | 9.0% | 29.8% | 68.0% |
  - Result of autoclave tape is recorded | 0.0% | – | – | – |
  - Autoclave tape is used on the outside of each wrapped package (for the loads where autoclave tape is used) | 79.4% | 7.8% | 57.0% | 91.8% |
Sterilized packs are intact and dry | 10.8% | 5.1% | 3.6% | 28.5% |