Role of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the upgrading of personal hygiene. A cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia

To assess the role of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in improving personal hygiene in Saudi Arabia. Methods: We administered a questionnaire distributed online between 19 and 28 May 2020 to determine alterations in personal hygiene practices during this pandemic compared to the pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Saudi medical journal Vol. 41; no. 11; pp. 1263 - 1269
Main Authors:	Zakout, Yosef M, Khatoon, Fahmida, Bealy, Mohamad A, Khalil, Nuha Ar, Alhazimi, Awdah M
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Saudi Arabia Saudi Medical Journal 01-11-2020 Prince Sultan Military Medical City (PSMMC)
Subjects:	Adult Brief Communication Communicable Disease Control - methods Control Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control COVID-19 Cross-Sectional Studies Epidemics Female Hand Disinfection - methods Health behavior Humans Hygiene Hygiene - standards Infection Control - methods Male Management Middle Aged Pandemics - prevention & control Pandemics - statistics & numerical data Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control Role Saudi Arabia Social networks Surveys Surveys and Questionnaires Saudi Arabia China
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Summary:	To assess the role of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in improving personal hygiene in Saudi Arabia. Methods: We administered a questionnaire distributed online between 19 and 28 May 2020 to determine alterations in personal hygiene practices during this pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic phase. Results: We included 211 respondents from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in this study. Improvement at different levels was detected in all examined personal hygiene items compared to the pre-pandemic stage. The percentages of respondents who always washed their hands after coming back home (34.1%), used soap to wash their hands (58.8%), used a hand sanitizer outside (5.2%), wore a face masks while outside (1.4%) and washed their hands before preparing and/or eating food (74.9%) was increased before the pandemic to 89.6%, 90%, 63.5%, 59.2% and 89.1% during the pandemic, respectively. The percentage of respondents who never shake hands with people they know increased from 0% before the pandemic to 62.6% during the pandemic. The mean duration of washing hands with soap significantly increased from 13.31 seconds before the pandemic to 28.01 seconds during the pandemic (p less than 0.0001). The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a noticeable improvement in the personal hygiene habits in Saudi Arabia mainly those related to COVID-19 prevention.
ISSN:	0379-5284 1658-3175
DOI:	10.15537/SMJ.2020.11.25402