Male hospital staff lax on handwashing: study

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Male hospital staff lax on handwashing: study

NEW YORK, Jan 16 (Reuters Health) - Studies have found that men are less

strict about handwashing than women are, and new research suggests that

the cleanliness gender gap extends to the medical profession.

Australian researchers found that in their institution's critical care

unit, male healthcare workers washed their hands one-third less often

than female workers did after contact with an invasive instrument or a

patient's skin, blood or " excretions. "

But the sex difference was not seen across all the professions,

according to Thea van de Mortel and colleagues at Southern Cross

University in Lismore.

Male and female nurses had similarly high handwashing rates after

patient contact. As for doctors, women washed their hands 88% of the

time, compared with just 54% among men. Female ward workers washed up

nearly twice as often their male counterparts, and female radiographers

practiced hand hygiene more often than males, the report indicates.

Physical therapists were the most vigilant of all. Both men and women

washed their hands after every patient contact observed in the study,

according to findings published in a recent issue of the American

Journal of Infection Control.

Handwashing is a basic way to limit the spread of germs in any

environment. A number of studies in the general population have shown

that women and girls are more likely than men and boys to wash their

hands in a germ-filled situation, such as after using the bathroom, the

researchers point out.

The authors note that these results follow that trend, with the

exception of nurses and physical therapists. And they speculate that

" cultural " differences among the health professions might explain the

various handwashing practices.

" Pinpointing how these cultural differences arise may provide a means of

boosting handwashing frequency, " van de Mortel and colleagues write.

Handwashing in the study was assessed by " covert " observers from the

staff. They followed the handwashing practices of 156 men and 93 women

across all hospital shifts, for 3 months.

SOURCE: American Journal of Infection Control 2001;29:395-399.