Why Don't People Wash Their Hands After Using the Bathroom? "Because It's Annoying" or "Because They're Busy"

Survey of 4,269 People Shows 66.2% Practice Handwashing
Only 1 to 2 out of 100 Wash Hands for More Than 30 Seconds

Amid the continued resurgence of COVID-19, it has been found that less than 2% of people wash their hands with soap for more than 30 seconds after using the restroom. This means only 1 to 2 out of 100 people do so.

On the 27th, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced the results of the "2022 Community Infectious Disease Prevention Behavior Survey," conducted in collaboration with the International Korean Nurses Foundation. From October 7 to November 13, the KDCA observed 4,269 adults to assess how well they practiced proper handwashing in daily life, specifically in public restrooms.

The survey results showed that the handwashing rate after using the restroom was 66.2%, similar to the previous year (66.3%). The rate of handwashing using soap was 29.4%, a decrease compared to the previous year (30.6%).

Only 1 or 2 out of 100 people practice 'proper' handwashing for more than 30 seconds, according to survey results. Photo by Yonhap News

The percentage of people who properly washed their hands with soap for more than 30 seconds in public restrooms was 1.73%, an increase of 0.29 percentage points from the previous year (1.44%).

The average handwashing time was 10.48 seconds, which is 1.33 seconds longer than the previous year (9.15 seconds).

Among 1,552 adults who used public restrooms and participated in an exit survey, the reasons for not washing hands were: ▲'It’s bothersome' at 44.4%, ▲'It’s not a habit' at 20.2%, and ▲'I’m busy' at 18.5%.

An inspection of facilities in 99 public restrooms nationwide found that 98.6% of restrooms were equipped with soap.

Restrooms with hygiene guideline posters (32%) showed a higher handwashing rate than those without such posters (27%).

According to domestic and international literature on the effects of proper handwashing, a single hand hygiene event (washing hands with water and soap or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer) reduces the risk of acute respiratory infections by about 3%.

Ji Young-mi, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, stated, "Since proper handwashing has been shown to have a preventive effect against infectious diseases, proper handwashing is more necessary than ever amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic," and urged, "Especially, wash your hands with soap for more than 30 seconds."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.