Hand washing habits: who does it and why it matters

Do you wash your hands whenever you use the toilet? And do you do so before preparing or handling food? Answer honestly.

The Food Safety Information Council in Australia has published its newest report card on the nation’s hand washing habits. It shows that 19% of Australians do not wash their hands every time they use the toilet. Nearly half, 42%, acknowledge that they do not consistently wash their hands before handling food.

So, who has the best hand hygiene habits, who falls short, and why is this important?

What did the report find?

The latest report examined the hand washing behaviour of 1,229 people. Its findings aligned with those from comparable previous surveys.

Women again performed marginally better than men at washing their hands after using the toilet: 80% of men said they did so every time, compared with 83% of women. Before touching food, only 55% of men washed their hands, against 62% of women.

Age appeared to matter as well. Among people aged under 34, 69% washed their hands every time they used the toilet. For those over 65, the figure rose to 86%.

While some of these variations are not entirely surprising, including the difference between men’s and women’s hand washing habits, the explanations for them are still uncertain.

Why don't people wash their hands?

Public health campaigns commonly concentrate on the correct way to wash hands. However, less research has explored how broadly these behaviours are actually followed. To understand why people may be missing the soap-and-water step, we need to establish whether those messages are being communicated effectively.

A study in India that investigated this issue asked schoolchildren what prevented them from washing their hands. Most of them, 91%, had low "illness threat perception". Put simply, they did not believe that failing to wash their hands after using the toilet put them at risk of becoming ill.

Not being able to see germs was among the most significant obstacles, reported by 46% of the children. Yet 72% said they would wash their hands if their friends did too.

It may be tempting to assume that these factors also affect other age groups, but there has not been sufficient research to establish this. The reasons people do, or do not, wash their hands probably change throughout life and according to their circumstances.

What are the risks?

Urine and faeces contain millions of germs. Faeces are particularly germ-rich, containing more than 100 billion germs in every gram.

Using the toilet and touching bathroom surfaces means picking up germs. Anyone who leaves without washing their hands carries those germs away and transfers them to every surface they subsequently touch.

You may not become unwell yourself, but you are contributing to the spread of bacteria. This raises the likelihood of infection and illness for others, including people with weakened immune systems, such as older adults and people receiving common cancer treatments.

Washing your hands before preparing and eating food matters too. The risk works in both directions. Disease-causing germs on your hands - perhaps because you did not wash them after using the toilet - can be transferred to food, where they may multiply and even create toxins. Anyone who eats that food may then become ill, often with vomiting and diarrhoea.

Conversely, some foods naturally contain germs before they are cooked, including salmonella and campylobacter bacteria found in raw poultry. Failing to wash your hands after handling these foods can spread germs to other surfaces and create a risk of infection.

How should I wash my hands?

Use these three straightforward steps to wash your hands properly:

1. Wet your hands, then rub them together thoroughly with soap to create a good lather for at least 20 seconds. Remember the spaces between your fingers and beneath your nails. A nail brush may be needed.
2. Rinse thoroughly under running water to wash the germs from your hands.
3. Dry your hands completely using a clean towel for at least 20 seconds. Touching surfaces while your hands are damp makes it easier for germs to move from the surface onto your hands.

What about hand sanitiser?

Where running water is unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser. These products quickly deactivate a broad range of germs, making them non-infectious. Hand sanitisers work against many bacteria and viruses responsible for common gastrointestinal and respiratory infections.

They are not effective, however, if your hands are contaminated with organic matter, including blood, faeces, meat, sand or soil. In these circumstances, wash your hands with soap and water.

The bottom line

Hand washing is rather like wearing a seat belt - you wear one every time you travel in a car, rather than only on the days you "plan" to have an accident. Put simply, hand washing is a fast, straightforward measure that protects both you and those around you - but only when you do it.

Christine Carson, Senior Research Fellow, School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.