Gender and ethnic differences in hand hygiene practices among college students.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Poor hand hygiene on college campuses can be improved by promoting handwashing behavior. This observational study was conducted to evaluate gender and race/ethnic differences in hand hygiene practices among college students.

METHODS:
Hand hygiene practices in college students were evaluated in 4 settings (soap and water; soap and water and visual prompts; soap and water and hand sanitizers; and soap and water, hand sanitizers, and visual prompts). The degree of hand hygiene (ie, adequate handwashing time, use of hand sanitizer, and hand-drying method) also was evaluated at various locations on campus.

RESULTS:
Overall, 72.9% of students washed their hands, 58.3% practiced hand hygiene (using either soap or hand sanitizer), and 26.1% washed their hands adequately. Hand sanitizer use was low when students were given the option, and paper towel was the most common hand-drying method. In general, hand hygiene practices were better in academic buildings than in the student recreation center. Visual prompts improved handwashing behavior only among students in the "other" ethnic category, but not by gender.

CONCLUSIONS:
Handwashing is the most effective way of preventing the spread of infectious diseases, and our findings have implications for the design of effective hand hygiene education programs in college students.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Anderson, Joy L (JL); Warren, Cynthia A (CA); Perez, Elena (E); Louis, Reggie I (RI); Phillips, Stephanie (S); Wheeler, Jean (J); Cole, Melissa (M); Misra, Ranjita (R);

Affiliation: Center for the Study of Health Disparities, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: American journal of infection control (Am J Infect Control), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 36 (issue 5) : pp 361-8

Dates: Created 2008/06/09; Completed 2008/07/03;

PMID: 18538703, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Communicable Diseases - ethnology
Ethnic Groups
Female
Handwashing - methods
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans

Humans
Hygiene
Male
Sex Factors
Students
Universities

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.