A Nationwide Survey on the Hand Washing Behavior and Awareness.

Jae Sim Jeong; Jun Kil Choi; Ihn Sook Jeong; Kyong Ran Paek; Hye Kyung In; Ki Dong Park

doi:10.3961/jpmph.2007.40.3.197

Articles

Page Path: HOME > J Prev Med Public Health > Volume 40(3); 2007 > Article

English Abstract A Nationwide Survey on the Hand Washing Behavior and Awareness.: Jae Sim Jeong, Jun Kil Choi, Ihn Sook Jeong, Kyong Ran Paek, Hye Kyung In, Ki Dong Park; Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health 2007;40(3):197-204
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.2007.40.3.197

24,966 Views
375 Download
39 Crossref
24 Scopus

¹Department of Clinical Nursing, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Korea.
²Communicable Disease Control Team, Korean Centers for Disease Control, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Korea.
³College of Nursing, Pusan National University, Korea.
⁴Division of Infectious Diseases, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Korea. krpeck@smc.samsung.co.kr

Full Article

Download PDF

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study was conducted to evaluate the public's awareness of the importance of hand washing and to compare perceptions on the habit of hand washing with actual hand washing behavior. METHODS: Data were collected by observing 2,800 participants washing their hands after using public restrooms in seven cities nationwide and by surveying 1,000 respondents (age > 14 years) through telephone interviews using a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Although 94% of the survey respondents claimed to mostly or always wash their hands after using public restrooms, only 63.4% of the observed participants did wash their hands after using public restrooms. Significant factors related to increased adherence to hand washing were female gender, approximate ages of 20 to 39 years by their appearance, and the presence of other people from the observation. About 79% of the survey respondents always washed their hands after using bathrooms at home, 73% washed their hands before handling food, and 67% washed their hands upon returning to their home. However, 93.2% and 86.3% of the survey respondents did not wash their hands after coughing or sneezing and after handling money, respectively. Although most of the survey respondents (77.6%) were aware that hand washing is helpful in preventing communicable diseases, 39.6% of the survey respondents did not do so because they were 'not accustomed' to washing their hands and 30.2% thought that washing their hands is 'annoying'. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first comprehensive report on hand washing behavior and awareness of the general population in Korea. The result of this study in terms of individual behavior and awareness of hand washing are comparable with similar studies conducted in other countries. However adherence to hand washing is still low and needs to be increased. The results of this study can be used as a baseline in setting up strategies and activities to Bpromote adherence to hand washing.

Keywords: Handwashing Infection control Health knowledge Attitudes Practice Health survey Korea

Figure & Data

References

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Knowledge and handling practices for raw hen's eggs during purchase, preparation, storage, and consumption: a cross sectional study
Mohammed Sabbah, Kamal Badrasawi, Lubna Kharraz, Manal Badrasawi
Scientific Reports.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Kronik Hastalığı Olan Bireylerin El Yıkama Alışkanlıklarının Belirlenmesi
Esin SEVGİ DOĞAN, Dilan DENİZ AKAN, Cansu KOŞAR ŞAHİN, Ozden DEDELİ CAYDAM, Sezgi ÇINAR PAKYÜZ
Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal Universitesi Tip Fakultesi Abant Tip Dergisi.2023; 12(1): 41. CrossRef
Association among the exposure to giving knowledge, attitude and practice for handwashing in people residing in Seoul, South Korea: a retrospective cross-sectional study
Jayeun Kim, Kyuhyun Yoon
BMJ Open.2022; 12(2): e053329. CrossRef
Association between years with incidence of communicable diseases focused on COVID-19 and hand hygiene among adults in South Korea: a cross-sectional study
Yun Hwa Jung, Yu Shin Park, Eun-Cheol Park, Sung-In Jang
BMC Public Health.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
“I Can Sense When My Hands Need Washing”: A Qualitative Study and Thematic Analysis of Factors Affecting Young Adults’ Hand Hygiene
Abhinand Thaivalappil, Ian Young, David L Pearl, Jennifer E McWhirter, Andrew Papadopoulos
Environmental Health Insights.2022; 16: 117863022211299. CrossRef
Knowledge, socio-cognitive perceptions and the practice of hand hygiene and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study of UK university students
Christine Barrett, Kei Long Cheung
BMC Public Health.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
An Investigation of the General Population’s Self-Reported Hand Hygiene Behaviour and Compliance in a Cross-European Setting
Aaron Lawson, Marie Vaganay-Miller, Robert Cameron
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2021; 18(5): 2402. CrossRef
Analysis of Gender-Dependent Personal Protective Behaviors in a National Sample: Polish Adolescents’ COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study
Dominika Guzek, Dominika Skolmowska, Dominika Głąbska
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2020; 17(16): 5770. CrossRef
COVID-19 salgını sırasında Türk toplumunun sosyal el yıkama bilgi ve tutumunun değerlendirilmesi
Yasemin KALKAN UĞURLU, Hanife DURGUN, Esra NEMUTLU, Onurcan KURD
Journal of Contemporary Medicine.2020; 10(4): 617. CrossRef
Handwashing with soap after potential faecal contact: global, regional and country estimates
Jennyfer Wolf, Richard Johnston, Matthew C Freeman, Pavani K Ram, Tom Slaymaker, Eric Laurenz, Annette Prüss-Ustün
International Journal of Epidemiology.2019; 48(4): 1204. CrossRef
Self-perceptions of body weight status according to age-groups among Korean women: A nationwide population-based survey
Boyoung Park, Ha Na Cho, Eunji Choi, Da Hea Seo, Sue Kim, Yeong-Ran Park, Kui Son Choi, Yumie Rhee, Yongjoo Kim
PLOS ONE.2019; 14(1): e0210486. CrossRef
Hand Hygiene and Tuberculosis Risk in Korea: An Ecological Association
Mi Ah Han
Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health.2018; 30(1): 67. CrossRef
Knowledge and Attitudes towards Handling Eggs in the Home: An Unexplored Food Safety Issue?
Harriet Whiley, Beverley Clarke, Kirstin Ross
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2017; 14(1): 48. CrossRef
Assessment of hand-washing habits among school students aged 6–18 years in Jordan
Mohammed ALBashtawy
British Journal of School Nursing.2017; 12(1): 30. CrossRef
Hand washing and Preventive Measures for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus
So-Hee Lim
Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society.2016; 17(2): 427. CrossRef
Factors Influencing Nursing Students’ Performance of Infection Control
Jong-Rim Choi, Il-Sun Ko, Yeong-Yi Yim
Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing.2016; 23(2): 136. CrossRef
Study on the Characteristics of Food-borne Pathogens Isolated from Students' Mobile Phones in Busan
Sun-Hee Park, Yeon-Kyoung Park, In-Yeong Hwang, Hye-Young Park, Gyung-Hye Sung, Hyeon-Cheol Jo
Korean Journal of Environmental Health Sciences.2016; 42(4): 255. CrossRef
Turkey Handwashing Survey: suggestion for taking the ecological model into better consideration
Hakan Tüzün, Kağan Karakaya, Emine Baran Deniz
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine.2015; 20(5): 325. CrossRef
The effects and related factors of public service announcement on hand-washing
Hyun-Soo Kim, Moo-Sik Lee, Byung-Hee Kim, Nam-Young Yang, Hae-Jung Hwang, Jee-Young Hong, Soo-Jin Hong, Eun-Young Kim, Young-Tek Kim, Youn-Jin Park, Go-Un Lim
Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion.2015; 32(2): 1. CrossRef
Development of the scale of hygıene behavıors for nursıng students
Gulay Ipek Coban, Sonay Bilgin
BMC Medical Research Methodology.2015;[Epub] CrossRef
Relationship between handwashing practices and infectious diseases in Korean students
Dong-Fang Zhang, Moo-Sik Lee, SuJin Hong, Nam-Young Yang, Hae-Jung Hwang, Byung-Hee Kim, Hyun-Soo Kim, Eun-Young Kim, Yun-Jin Park, Go-Un Lim, Young-Tek Kim
Journal of agricultural medicine and community health.2015; 40(4): 206. CrossRef
The Status of Handwashing with Soap and its Convergent related Factors in Korean People ; based on Korea National Handwashing Observation Survey, 2013
Hye-Jeong Hwang, Moo-Sik Lee, Nam-Young Yang, SuJin Hong, Young-Taek Kim
Journal of Digital Convergence.2015; 13(12): 217. CrossRef
University Students' Cough Etiquette Knowledge and Practice to Protect Droplet Infection
Bo-Young Jin, Shinmi Kim
Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science.2015; 17(4): 348. CrossRef
Related Factors of Handwashing with Soap and its Practices by Students in South Korea
Nam Young Yang, Moo-Sik Lee, Hae-Jung Hwang, Jee-Young Hong, Byung-Hee Kim, Hyun-Soo Kim, Su-Jin Hong, Eun-Young Kim, Young-Teak Kim, Yun-Jin Park
Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing.2014; 28(2): 372. CrossRef
Behaviors of hand washing practice Korean adolescents, 2011-2013: The Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey
Young-Sil Choi
Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society.2014; 15(7): 4132. CrossRef
Effectiveness of Glove for the Prevention of Microbial Contamination during the Dental Clinical Practice
Sun-Ju Jeong, Jung-In Kim, Ji-Yeon Kim, Se-Hee Ban, Ji-Young Um, Moon-Jin Jeong, Do-Seon Lim, Soon-Jeong Jeong
Journal of dental hygiene science.2014; 14(4): 537. CrossRef
Prevalence and Toxin Characteristics of Microorganism on Hand Towels Using for Children in Child Care Center
Jung-Beom Kim, Nan-Yong Kim, Suk-Ho Kang, Young-Sook Do, Mi-Na Eom, Mi-Hye Yoon, Jong-Bok Lee
Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety.2013; 28(2): 138. CrossRef
Knowledge, Attitude and Performance on the Hand Washing by Pre-practicum Nursing Students
Seong-Mi Ryu, You-Jin Lim
Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society.2013; 14(11): 5714. CrossRef
A study on handwashing of health science college students
Eun-Ju Kang, Hwa-Jung Choi
Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene.2013; 13(3): 449. CrossRef
A Study on the Subjectivity about Nursing Student's Attitude after Hand Washing Education
Yun-Jeong Kim
The Journal of Digital Policy and Management.2013; 11(12): 621. CrossRef
Knowledge, Attitude, and Performance on the Hand Washing of Health Care related Students
Seong-Mi Ryu
Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society.2013; 14(8): 3916. CrossRef
Prevalence of Microbiological Hazard on Nursery School Children's Hands and Effect of Hand Washing Education
Jung-Beom Kim, Eun-Seon Hur, Suk-Ho Kang, Dae-Hwan Kim, Young-Sook Do, Po-Hyun Park, Yong-Bae Park, Mi-Hye Yoon, Jong-Bok Lee
Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety.2012; 27(1): 30. CrossRef
The Korean Nurses Association in New England
Meekyung Kim, Sun Seog Kim, Kim Choi, Eun Sil Kim
AJN, American Journal of Nursing.2012; 112(8): 59. CrossRef
Estimation of Nationwide Vaccination Coverage and Comparison of Interview and Telephone Survey Methodology for Estimating Vaccination Status
Boyoung Park, Yeon-Kyeng Lee, Lisa Y. Cho, Un Yeong Go, Jae Jeong Yang, Seung Hyun Ma, Bo-Youl Choi, Moo-Sik Lee, Jin-Seok Lee, Eun Hwa Choi, Hoan Jong Lee, Sue K. Park
Journal of Korean Medical Science.2011; 26(6): 711. CrossRef
A Study on the Hand Washing Awareness and Practices of Food-service Employees and the Load of Index Microorganisms on the Hands
Jeong-Yeong Park, Joong-Soon Kim, Jong-Gyu Kim
Korean Journal of Environmental Health Sciences.2010; 36(2): 95. CrossRef
A Study on the Hand-washing Awareness and Practices of Male University Students
Jong-Gyu Kim, Jeong-Young Park, Joong-Soon Kim
Korean Journal of Environmental Health Sciences.2009; 35(1): 36. CrossRef
A scale for measuring hygiene behavior: Development, reliability and validity
Richard J. Stevenson, Trevor I. Case, Deborah Hodgson, Renata Porzig-Drummond, Javad Barouei, Megan J. Oaten
American Journal of Infection Control.2009; 37(7): 557. CrossRef
Impact of supplementary private health insurance on stomach cancer care in Korea: a cross-sectional study
Dong Wook Shin, Kee-Taig Jung, Sung Kim, Jae-Moon Bae, Young-Woo Kim, Keun Won Ryu, Jun Ho Lee, Jae-Hyung Noh, Tae-Sung Sohn, Young Ho Yun
BMC Health Services Research.2009;[Epub] CrossRef
Trends of Recent Food-Borne Disease Outbreaks in Korea
Joon Wuk Kwun, Cheol Heon Lee
Journal of the Korean Medical Association.2007; 50(7): 573. CrossRef

Cite

Related articles