• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.1659-1668
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of the application of hand washing education program for the children with intellectual disability on hand washing frequency and methods during COVID-19 Pandemic. Subjects were 14 children with intellectual disability and they participated in the program using visual video materials. Hand washing education program was consisted of introduction, theory education, and practice and it performed 2 times a week, total 16 sessions during 8 weeks. Hand washing theory education was consisted about the importance and application of hand washing, proper hand washing steps and methods, use of hand washing tools, use of hand sanitizers including characteristics, and prevention of skin damage from hand washing. Hand washing assessment was used by hand washing frequence and methods observation report. Hand washing frequency was measured by the hand washing frequency during the daily routine and it was analyzed by the items divided into day and month units. Hand washing methods was measured by the items divided into use of hand washing tools, time, areas, drying methods after hand washing. As the results, after hand washing education program, the hand washing frequence was increased and hand washing methods were improved. Hand washing is much important as a active method to prevent the infection during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Thus, based on this findings, the application of hand washing education program should be considered to increase the hand washing frequency and improve the hand washing methods of the children with intellectual disability.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.95-107
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• 2010

Hand-washing is one of the major factors in personal hygiene and public health. This study was undertaken to investigate the hygienic behavior of food-service employees, focusing on awareness of hand washing, hand washing practices, and the load of index microorganisms (aerobic plate count, total and fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus) on the hands of food-service employees. A questionnaire survey completed by direct interview, direct observation of restrooms by the researcher and trained observers, and microbiological examination according to the Food Code of Korea were carried out. In the survey, a positive attitude toward hand washing compliance was reported; however, improper hand washing and poor hand hygiene of the food-service employees were seen under direct observation. Significant differences (p<0.05) were found between the questionnaire survey and the direct observations in hand washing compliance after using the toilet, duration of hand washing, use of hand washing agents, use of hand washing tools, washing of different parts of the hands, hand-drying method, temperature of water, and method of turning off the water. Samples taken from employees' hands before washing showed higher levels of bacteria than those taken during work and/or after washing (p<0.05). Poor hand washing practices were indicated by the positive results for total and fecal coliforms, E. coli, and S. aureus on the hands of some food-service employees. This study showed that there is a marked difference between the food-service employees' awareness of hand-washing and their actual hand-washing practices. The poor hand hygiene of and improper hand washing by the food-service employees should be addressed for improved food safety.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.313-321
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate hand washing practice and proper hand cleansing among first and second year nursing students who are prone to be exposed to nosocomial infections, and to identify the influence of perceived behavior control and self-efficacy on hand washing practices and proper hand cleansing. Method: Data for 91 students were collected from a nursing college in a metropolitan city in Korea. Data were analyzed using descriptive, t-test, one way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple regression with SPSS/WIN 19.0. Result: The mean score for hand washing practice was 38.35 out of a possible score of 48, and the mean sore for proper hand cleansing was 18.63 out of a possible score of 28. The significant factors affecting student hand washing practice were 'residential type' (p=.016), 'perceived behavior control' (p=.021), and 'self-efficacy' (p=.033) which explained 19.9% of the variance. The significant factors affecting proper hand cleansing by the students were 'perceived behavior control' (p<.001) and 'regular exercise' (p=.026) which explained 29.8% of the variance. Conclusion: These results indicate a need for education programs on hand washing including strategies to improve perceived behavior control and self-efficacy to promote more effective hand washing practices.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.133-142
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• 2010

This study was performed to investigate awareness of hand washing, hand washing behavior, and the levels of indicator microorganisms on hands of food handlers who work in the food court and cafeteria of a university campus. The three methods used were questionnaire survey by interview, direct observation in restrooms, and microbiological examination according to the Food Code of Korea. A positive attitude toward hand washing compliance was reported by the responded food handlers; however, improper hand washing and poor hand hygiene of the food handlers were recognized by the unnoticed direct observation. Significant differences were found between the questionnaire survey and the direct observation (p < 0.05) in hand washing compliance after using the toilet, duration of hand washing, use of hand washing agent, washing different parts of the hands, hand-drying method, temperature of water, and method of turning off the water. Samples taken from their hands before work showed higher level of standard plate count, total and fecal coliforms, and Escherichia coli than those taken after washing with water. After washing hands with antiseptic liquid soap, the bacterial populations including Staphylococcus aureus on hands were dramatically reduced. This study indicates that there is a remarkable difference between the food handlers' awareness of hand washing and their hand washing behavior. Poor hand washing compliance and hand hygiene were indicated by the positive results of total and fecal coliforms, E. coli, and S. aureus on hands of some food handlers. The findings of this study suggest that the hand hygiene of the food handlers need to be improved. More training/education on hand washing and hand hygiene of the food handlers should be necessary.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.427-435
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• 2016

Recently, hand washing has been emphasized as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS) threatened public health. This study aimed to prevent MERS by hand washing frequency and analyzed the relationship between hand washing behavior and trait anxiety, locus of control and health promotion behavior. In this study, 314 nursing students participated in a survey where they could indicate what they did and the frequency of hand washing for preventing MERS. They also responded to questions related to the trait anxiety, locus of control, and health promotion behavior. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression. The frequency of hand washing was highest among the measures that the participants used and it was significantly related to the participants who reported high scores for the importance of hand washing. In addition, the importance of hand washing was impacted by the internal locus of control. Most nursing students who participated the survey acknowledged that hand washing was the most important method for preventing MERS. Therefore, it is important to educate people on the importance of hand washing and pay attention to personal characteristics, such as internal locus of control to promote hand-washing.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.36-44
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• 2009

Hand-washing has been recognized as a critical factor in controlling infection and cross-contamination. This study was performed to investigate hygienic behavior of male university students focusing on awareness of hand-washing, their hand washing practices, and the difference between their awareness and practices. Both a self-administered questionnaire survey and a separate direct observation in restrooms were carried out at a university campus over a four week period. In the survey, 93.6% of the responded students claimed to wash their hands after using toilet. However, just 16.9% of the observed students actually did so, according to a separate and unnoticed observational study. Among the observed students who washed their hands, 25.0% of them used soap, only 5.0% of them washed four parts of their hands, and 15.0% of them washed their hands for more than 10 seconds. Paper towel was the most common hand drying method in the direct observation and also in the survey. Significant differences between the questionnaire survey and the direct observation (p<0.0l) were found in hand-washing practices, duration of hand-washing, using soap, washing parts of the hand, and hand-drying method after using the toilet. This study indicates that there is a remarkable difference between the male university students' awareness of hand-washing and their hand-washing practices. This study reveals that there is the need for programs or campaigns to increase hand-washing practices of male university students.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.213-221
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• 2019

Objective: This study was performed to evaluate gender and age differences in hygienic behavior among the general population, focusing on hand-washing habits and the microbial load of hands. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey and a separate microbial examination were performed. The Pearson's correlation between hand-washing habits and microbial load was analyzed. Results: In the questionnaire survey on hand-washing habits, gender differences were found in hand-washing frequency, use of hand-washing agents, and hand drying methods (p<0.05). Age differences were found in numbers of washing parts of the hands and also in hand drying methods (p<0.05). Females showed better habits washing hands than did males, as did older people compared to younger. In the microbial examination of indicator bacteria on their hands, younger people tended to show a higher load of total aerobic bacteria than did the older, and females showed a higher load of total coliforms than did males (p<0.05). There were significant relationships between the load of total aerobic bacteria and hand-washing frequency, duration, and method of turning-off water (p<0.05). Conclusions: Although females were expected to show a better practice of hand-washing than were males based on the survey results, they showed a higher level of total coliforms in the hand examination. The older age group showed better hand-washing habits than did the younger age group and had less total aerobic bacteria on their hands. These inter-gender and age differences highlight the need for development and implementation of gender-and age-specific educational programs or campaigns.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.31-43
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• 2014

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship of personal hygiene education and hand-washing practices among adolescents. Then the impact of such factors on the hand-washing practices was analyzed. Methods: The data of the 2012 Youth Health Risk Behavior web-based Survey collected by Korean Center for Disease Control was analyzed using SPSS. Total 74,186 of middle and hish school students were included. Uni-variate analysis was done by complex sample crosstabs and multi-variate analysis was done by complex sample logistic regression. Results: The 26.8% of students experienced personal hygiene education. The students of boys, low school grade, coeducation, metropolitan, high school record and high economic status experienced more hygiene education. The hand-washing practices were high in the students with the experience of personal hygiene education. In the factors affecting the hand-washing practice, the experience of personal hygiene education was consistently significant. If students experienced the personal hygiene education, they showed 20~30% more rates of hand-washing practices. Conclusions: Hand-washing practice was high when experiencing personal hygiene education. The personal hygiene education was necessary to improve the rate of hand-washing practices.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.203-210
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to compare hand washing awareness and microorganism contamination on the hands for evaluating the difference between awareness and conditions of hand hygiene. The average number of total aerobic bacteria and coliform was 2.7 log CFU/hand and 1.8 log CFU/hand, respectively. Coliform bacteria were detected in all of the students tested in this study. The questionnaire survey data obtained via a direct interview were collected from 100 university students with microorganism analysis. A majority (90%) of the students recognized that good hand hygiene is important in order to prevent food poisoning. In the hand washing survey data, the responses suggesting "always washed" from "before eating food", "after handling money", "after finishing study" and "after visiting patients" were observed in 18, 13, 15 and 33 out of the 100 students, respectively. The questionnaire data of hand washing frequency and time duration showed that 14 students and 6 students answered "more than 8 times of hand washing per day" and "more than 30 seconds of hand washing time", respectively. These results indicated that improper hand washing practices and poor hand hygiene were identified in the majority of the students. This emphasizes the difference between awareness and conditions of hand hygiene. Repeated hand washing education about the frequency, time duration and methods is constantly required to improve hand hygiene. Installation of hand washing equipment in the space of a restaurant and cafeteria is suggested for enhancing hand hygiene before eating food.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.220-231
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• 2009

The principal objective of this study was to evaluate elementary students' awareness of the importance of hand washing, as well as their hand-washing behavior. The data was collected by self-reported questionnaire from 697 students in elementary schools with serving food in a classroom in Busan. Their hand-washing frequency was high, at '3~4 times per day (37.0%)'. 51.0% of the respondents did not wash their hands that often because they were 'not accustomed' to washing their hands, and 35.9% of respondents regarded washing their hands as 'annoying'. The most frequently reported hand washing agent was 'soap and water (71.4%)'. Approximately 95~98% of the respondents always washed their hands after using the bathroom, 87.9% of them washed their hands before eating food, and 86.7% of them washed their hands upon returning home. However, 27.3%, 34.1% and 65.9% of the respondents did not wash their hands after handling money, after eating, and after coughing or sneezing, respectively. Significant factors related to increased hand-washing frequency were gender (p<0.001) and the period of attendance at kindergarten (p<0.05). The mean scores of importance and performance of hand washing were significantly higher for girls than for boys. The group with higher rate (over 4.5/5.0) for the importance of sanitary hand-washing behavior showed significantly higher scores in hand-washing behavior before serving food and before eating than those of the lower rated group (below 4.0/5.0). This study shows that sanitation education is required not only for food handlers but also for students in school foodservices.