Sensor recorded changes in rates of hand washing with soap in response to the media reports of the H1N1 pandemic in Britain
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Objectives To examine how the frequency of information regarding a real disease threat influences hand washing with soap.
Design and setting The authors installed wireless devices in highway service station lavatories in England to record the proportion of individuals washing hands with soap from May 2009 to January 2010.
Participants Participants were users of men's and women's toilets. Combined there was an average of 6800 participant entrances into the lavatories daily.
Primary outcome measure The primary outcome measure is the proportion of soap usage to the number of entries into the lavatories.
Results Hand-washing rates were positively related to both H1NI coverage in blogs and the news; however, these relationships were stronger for men than for women.
Conclusions Hand washing with soap increases proportionally to the frequency of media key words related to H1N1. Women's hand washing was more strongly associated with incidence of media keywords than men's.
Design and setting The authors installed wireless devices in highway service station lavatories in England to record the proportion of individuals washing hands with soap from May 2009 to January 2010.
Participants Participants were users of men's and women's toilets. Combined there was an average of 6800 participant entrances into the lavatories daily.
Primary outcome measure The primary outcome measure is the proportion of soap usage to the number of entries into the lavatories.
Results Hand-washing rates were positively related to both H1NI coverage in blogs and the news; however, these relationships were stronger for men than for women.
Conclusions Hand washing with soap increases proportionally to the frequency of media key words related to H1N1. Women's hand washing was more strongly associated with incidence of media keywords than men's.
Date Issued
2011-11-24
Date Acceptance
2011-09-26
Citation
BMJ Open, 2011, 1 (2), pp.1-7
ISSN
2044-6055
Publisher
BMJ Journals
Start Page
1
End Page
7
Journal / Book Title
BMJ Open
Volume
1
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2011, Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non commercial and is otherwise in compliance with the license. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/legalcode.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non commercial and is otherwise in compliance with the license. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/legalcode.
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000208638500006&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Medicine, General & Internal
General & Internal Medicine
HANDWASHING BEHAVIOR
INFLUENZA-A
EFFICACY
TRANSMISSION
INFECTIONS
OUTBREAK
HEALTH
ANXIETY
IMPACT
AGENTS
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN e000127
Date Publish Online
2011-11-24