Influence of Gender, Age and Field of Study on Hand Hygiene in Young Adults

The effectiveness of hand hygiene (HH) on reducing the transmission of contagious diseases is widely known, although its use has been commonly associated with the area of healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic, HH was one of the main measures established to contain the transmission of this virus. The identification of the main barriers and facilitators of HH in young adults (aged 18-29 years old) will contribute to the better planning of HH training and its posterior success. A total of 716 young adults participated in the study by completing the ad hoc online questionnaire ( #YesWeHand ), which analyzed, among other aspects, the age range, gender and field of study that they belonged to. From the total participants, 81.3% indicated knowing how to perform HH correctly, while 49.4% affirmed having received training. The main reason for performing HH was concern for their own safety and that of others (75.8%), while forgetfulness (36.5%) was the main reason for not performing HH. In the group of young adults, being female, aged between 22 and 25 years old, and having studied in the area of Health Sciences, had a positive influence on correct HH. It is deemed necessary to maintain HH beyond the primary education stages, and to adapt it to different fields of education, ages, and genders, in order to maximize its success. Given the overrepresentation of participants from the healthcare field, it would be desirable to conduct more studies to ensure a better representation of the different educational levels and fields of study of the participants, in order to identify, in a more reliable way, the variables that influence HH

Context (archaeology · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Cross-sectional study · Disease · Family medicine · Geography · Hygiene · Pandemic · Transmission (telecommunications · Young adult · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Demography · Infection Control and Ventilation · Infection Control in Healthcare · Medicine · Psychology · Gerontology

• The Relationship between Prevention and Panic from Covid-19, Ethical Principles, Life Expectancy, Anxiety, Depression and Stress

  Open Access•Mahdi Salehi, Grzegorz Zimon et al.•International Journal of…•2022

  Incluir item

• Assessing hand hygiene knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among Guatemalan primary school students in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic

  Open Access•Michelle M Pieters, Natalie Fahsen et al.•BMC Public Health•2023

  Incluir item

• Factors influencing the wearing of facemasks to prevent the severe acute respiratory syndrome among adult Chinese in Hong Kong

  Open Access•Catherine So-Kum Tang, Chi-yan Wong•Preventive Medicine•2004

  Incluir item

• Public perceptions, anxiety, and behaviour change in relation to the swine flu outbreak

  Open Access•G James Rubin, Richard Amlôt et al.•BMJ•2009

  Incluir item

• Longitudinal Assessment of Community Psychobehavioral Responses During and After the 2003 Outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in Hong Kong

  Gabriel M Leung, Genevieve Leung et al.•Clinical Infectious Diseases•2005

  Incluir item

• Medical Students and Covid-19

  Open Access•Ashraf I Khasawneh, Anas Abu Humeidan et al.•Frontiers in Public Health•2020

  Incluir item

• Hand Hygiene, Mask-Wearing Behaviors and Its Associated Factors during the Covid-19 Epidemic

  Open Access•Xuyu Chen, Ran Li et al.•International Journal of…•2020

  Incluir item

• Health Literacy and Preventive Behaviors Modify the Association between Pre-Existing Health Conditions and Suspected Covid-19 Symptoms

  Open Access•Tan Thanh Nguyen, Nga Le et al.•International Journal of…•2020

  Incluir item

• Knowledge Level and Hand Hygiene Practice of Nepalese Immigrants and Their Host Country Population

  Open Access•Lorna Kwai Ping Suen, Tika Rana•International Journal of…•2020

  Incluir item

• Epidemiological investigation on hand hygiene knowledge and behaviour

  Open Access•Lorna Kwai Ping Suen, Zoe Y Y So et al.•BMC Public Health•2019

  Incluir item

• Knowledge and attitudes of university students toward pandemic influenza

  Open Access•Hülya Akan, Yeşim Gürol et al.•BMC Public Health•2010

  Incluir item