Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> <bold>Background</bold> The environmental quality of elderly care institutions is directly associated with the health of their residents. The elders are particularly vulnerable to environmental risk factors. However, deficiencies in environmental disinfection are common across many elder care institutions. Targeted research on the environmental quality of these facilities is of substantial practical significance for the protection of the health of elderly residents. <bold>Methods</bold> Frequently touched object surfaces and staff hands in 37 elderly care institutions were sampled and the total number of aerobic colonies were detected . <bold>Results</bold> A total of 1312 samples were collected. The overall qualified rate of the samples was 60.29%, with a qualified rate of 66.70% for object surfaces and 40.00% for staff hands. The qualified rate of tables and chairs (46.04%) and public activity utensils (48.31%) in public activity areas were relatively low. The qualified rate of total aerobic colonies on nurses’ hands was the highest at 77.14%, while the qualified rates on the hands of cleaning staff and cooks were lower, at 30.95% and 7.84% respectively. <bold>Conclusion</bold> The overall disinfection quality of the investigated elderly care institutions still needs to be improved, and both the health awareness and professional disinfection capabilities of the disinfection personnel require further enhancement. </p>