Garbutt Claire, Simmons Greg, Patrick Daniel, Miller Thomas
Auckland Regional Public Health Service, Auckland.
N Z Med J. 2007 Nov 9;120(1265):U2810.
To survey hand hygiene practices of the New Zealand public.
Hand hygiene practices of subjects after they had used the toilet were observed in the washrooms of shopping malls in the cities of Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Christchurch. The frequency and duration of hand hygiene were recorded by gender-appropriate observers.
A total of 1200 subjects were observed. The overall frequency of hand washing was 86.7% (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 84.6-88.5). Significant (p<0.0001) gender differences were found with males (81.0%, 95% CI 77.6-84.0) having a lower frequency of hand hygiene than females (92.4%, 95% CI 89.9-94.4). Soap was used by 71.6% (95% CI 68.7-74.3) of subjects but less frequently by males (66.2%) than females (76.5%). Nine out of ten (91.2%, 95% CI 89.3-92.9) subjects who washed their hands, dried them. Males washed (median 8.0 seconds) and dried (median 7.0 seconds) their hands for a shorter period of time than females who washed and dried for medians of 8.8 and 8.0 seconds respectively. The median duration of handwashing (8.6 seconds) and drying with paper towels (7.9 seconds) was well below current recommendations of 20 seconds for each practice. The median duration of use of air towels at 16 seconds was far short of the recommended time of 45 seconds.
The New Zealand public appear to practise suboptimal hand hygiene in public washrooms. Future hand hygiene promotion should focus on males; on achieving adequate hand washing (using soap) and drying times; and on promoting drying times appropriate to the chosen method.
调查新西兰公众的手部卫生习惯。
在奥克兰、汉密尔顿、惠灵顿和克赖斯特彻奇市的购物中心洗手间观察受试者使用厕所后的手部卫生习惯。由合适性别的观察员记录手部卫生的频率和持续时间。
共观察了1200名受试者。洗手的总体频率为86.7%（95%置信区间[CI]84.6 - 88.5）。发现了显著的（p<0.0001）性别差异，男性（81.0%，95%CI 77.6 - 84.0）的手部卫生频率低于女性（92.4%，95%CI 89.9 - 94.4）。71.6%（95%CI 68.7 - 74.3）的受试者使用了肥皂，但男性（66.2%）使用频率低于女性（76.5%）。十分之九（91.2%，95%CI 89.3 - 92.9）洗手的受试者擦干了手。男性洗手（中位数8.0秒）和擦干（中位数7.0秒）的时间比女性短，女性洗手和擦干的中位数分别为8.8秒和8.0秒。洗手（8.6秒）和用纸巾擦干（7.9秒）的中位数持续时间远低于当前每项操作20秒的建议。使用空气干手器的中位数持续时间为16秒，远低于建议的45秒时间。
新西兰公众在公共洗手间的手部卫生习惯似乎不太理想。未来手部卫生宣传应关注男性；实现足够的洗手（使用肥皂）和擦干时间；并推广适合所选方法的擦干时间。
