RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Hand Hygiene Knowledge of College Students
JF American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
JO Clin Lab Sci
FD American Society of Chemistry and Laboratory Science
SP 89
OP 93
DO 10.29074/ascls.23.2.89
VO 23
IS 2
A1 J. Kyle Taylor
A1 Roselyne Basco
A1 Aya Zaied
A1 Chelsea Ward
YR 2010
UL http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/23/2/89.abstract
AB An observational study was conducted to evaluate hygiene habits of students with fields of study, gender, and understanding of hygiene at a university in Alabama. One hundred students were randomly observed in ten restrooms on campus to determine whether or not students washed their hands. The study was divided into an observational stage, a quiz to ascertain student's knowledge of hygiene and the spread of pathogens, and a survey of self-reported illness rates. Females had a tendency to wash their hands more often than males while visiting the bathroom (p = 0.02, X2 = 11.6). Science majors were more likely to wash their hands than non-science majors (p ≤ 0.001, X2 = 5.2). Females (p ≤ 0.0001, df = 98, F = 21.5) and science majors (p ≤ 0.0001, df = 98, F = 81.4) scored significantly higher on the survey than males and non-science majors, and that those observed not washing their hands reported being sick more often than those observed washing their hands (X2 = 155.0, df = 3, p < 0.001, Fisher's exact p< 0.001).