Demographic Characteristics, Experiences, and Beliefs Associated with Hand Hygiene Among Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic - United States, June 24-30, 2020.

Demographic Characteristics, Experiences, and Beliefs Associated with Hand Hygiene Among Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic - United States, June 24-30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020 Oct 16;69(41):1485-1491 Authors: Czeisler MÉ, Garcia-Williams AG, Molinari NA, Gharpure R, Li Y, Barrett CE, Robbins R, Facer-Childs ER, Barger LK, Czeisler CA, Rajaratnam SMW, Howard ME Abstract Frequent hand hygiene, including handwashing with soap and water or using a hand sanitizer containing ≥60% alcohol when soap and water are not readily available, is one of several critical prevention measures recommended to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).* Previous studies identified demographic factors associated with handwashing among U.S. adults during the COVID-19 pandemic (1,2); however, demographic factors associated with hand sanitizing and experiences and beliefs associated with hand hygiene have not been well characterized. To evaluate these factors, an Internet-based survey was conducted among U.S. adults aged ≥18 years during June 24-30, 2020. Overall, 85.2% of respondents reported always or often engaging in hand hygiene following contact with high-touch public surfaces such as shopping carts, gas pumps, and automatic teller machines (ATMs).† Respondents who were male (versus female) and of younger age reported lower handwashing and hand sanitizing rates, as did respondents w...
Source: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkl... - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Tags: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep Source Type: research