Only one in three adolescents are practising appropriate hand hygiene(卫生), a new global study involving University of Queensland researchers has found.
Dr Yaqoot Fatima from UQ's Institute for Social Science Research said there was a renewed emphasis on adequate hand hygiene with COVID-19. "We used data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey from 92 countries across the six WHO regions to examine the prevalence (普遍)of hand hygiene practices in adolescents worldwide," Dr Fatima said, "Our results highlight that globally, adolescents practice inadequate hand hygiene. Adolescents who reported unhealthy behaviours such as being more seated, smoking, and experiencing bullying at school were more likely to practise inappropriate hand hygiene than their peers. In comparison, parental support and bonding emerged as a key factor associated with adequate hand hygiene practices in adolescents."
The researchers examined 354,422 adolescents aged 13–17 years to demonstrate the considerable cross-country variations in hand hygiene practices. Dr Fatima said that although access to soap and water was an issue, around 60 percent of adolescents were not practising appropriate hand hygiene even when they had access to water and soap. While access to handwashing facilities and knowledge of proper hygiene is important for practising adequate hand hygiene, the study showed that the knowledge-behaviour gap is a major reason for insufficient hand hygiene practices.
Bullying prevention at school, systematic combination of health and hygiene education in the school curriculum and peer-led behaviour could be strategies to reduce inappropriate hand hygiene practices in adolescents. The positive role of parental support and bonding suggests that interventions (干预) aiming to improve adolescent hand hygiene should focus on parents and seek their active involvement in designing and delivering those interventions. "With these strategies adopted properly, we are sure to raise public awareness of hand hygiene practices." Dr Fatima said.
