Comparing public knowledge around value of hand and respiratory hygiene, vaccination, and pre- and post-national COVID-19 lockdown in England

Brieze Read; Cliodna A.M. McNulty; Neville Q. Verlander; Nicola Moss; Donna M. Lecky

doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2022.08.015

Comparing public knowledge around value of hand and respiratory hygiene, vaccination, and pre- and post-national COVID-19 lockdown in England

Brieze Read, Cliodna A.M. McNulty, Neville Q. Verlander, Nicola Moss, Donna M. Lecky^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

UK Health Security Agency

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

65 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. Existing literature focuses on healthcare professionals, whereas this article explores changes in public knowledge of IPC, where knowledge is comparably sparse.

Study design: National surveys were conducted before (March 2020) and after (March 2021) the COVID-19 lockdown across England.

Methods: A telephone survey of 1676 adults (2021) and a face-to-face survey of 2202 adults (2020) across England were conducted. Key demographics were representative of the population. Weighted logistic regression with composite Wald P-values was used to investigate knowledge change from 2020 to 2021.

Results: Compared with 2020, significantly more respondents correctly stated that infections can spread by shaking hands (86% post vs 79% pre; P < .001) and that microbes are transferred through touching surfaces (90% vs 80%; P < .001). More knew that hand gel is effective at removing microbes if water and soap are unavailable (94% vs 92%; P = .015); that when you cough, you may infect other people near you in a room (90% vs 80%; P < .001). Knowledge that vaccination protects others from infection also increased (63% post vs 50% pre; P < .001). There was also significant increase in those confident in their answers.

Conclusion: Knowledge of IPC measures was higher in 2021 than before the pandemic. Future public health hygiene campaigns should capitalise on this and emphasise that continuing hygiene behaviours, and vaccination can help prevent acquisition and illnesses with other non-COVID-19 infections, thus reducing the strain on the national health service.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	76-83
Number of pages	8
Journal	Public Health
Volume	212
Early online date	9 Sept 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.08.015
Publication status	Published - Nov 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: None declared.

Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Publisher Copyright: Crown Copyright © 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health.

Citation: Brieze Read, Cliodna A.M. McNulty, Neville Q. Verlander, Nicola Moss, Donna M. Lecky, Comparing public knowledge around value of hand and respiratory hygiene, vaccination, and pre- and post-national COVID-19 lockdown in England, Public Health, Volume 212, 2022, Pages 76-83, ISSN 0033-3506,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.08.015.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.08.015.

Keywords

Hand hygiene
Infection prevention and control
Public health
Public knowledge
Respiratory hygiene

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.puhe.2022.08.015Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Read2022ComparingPublicKnowledgeAroundValueOfHandAndRespiratoryHygiene,VaccinationPublicHealthFinal published version, 1.2 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Comparing public knowledge around value of hand and respiratory hygiene, vaccination, and pre- and post-national COVID-19 lockdown in England",

abstract = "Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. Existing literature focuses on healthcare professionals, whereas this article explores changes in public knowledge of IPC, where knowledge is comparably sparse. Study design: National surveys were conducted before (March 2020) and after (March 2021) the COVID-19 lockdown across England. Methods: A telephone survey of 1676 adults (2021) and a face-to-face survey of 2202 adults (2020) across England were conducted. Key demographics were representative of the population. Weighted logistic regression with composite Wald P-values was used to investigate knowledge change from 2020 to 2021. Results: Compared with 2020, significantly more respondents correctly stated that infections can spread by shaking hands (86% post vs 79% pre; P < .001) and that microbes are transferred through touching surfaces (90% vs 80%; P < .001). More knew that hand gel is effective at removing microbes if water and soap are unavailable (94% vs 92%; P = .015); that when you cough, you may infect other people near you in a room (90% vs 80%; P < .001). Knowledge that vaccination protects others from infection also increased (63% post vs 50% pre; P < .001). There was also significant increase in those confident in their answers. Conclusion: Knowledge of IPC measures was higher in 2021 than before the pandemic. Future public health hygiene campaigns should capitalise on this and emphasise that continuing hygiene behaviours, and vaccination can help prevent acquisition and illnesses with other non-COVID-19 infections, thus reducing the strain on the national health service.",

keywords = "Hand hygiene, Infection prevention and control, Public health, Public knowledge, Respiratory hygiene",

author = "Brieze Read and McNulty, {Cliodna A.M.} and Verlander, {Neville Q.} and Nicola Moss and Lecky, {Donna M.}",

note = "Funding Information: None declared. Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Publisher Copyright: Crown Copyright {\textcopyright} 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health. Citation: Brieze Read, Cliodna A.M. McNulty, Neville Q. Verlander, Nicola Moss, Donna M. Lecky, Comparing public knowledge around value of hand and respiratory hygiene, vaccination, and pre- and post-national COVID-19 lockdown in England, Public Health, Volume 212, 2022, Pages 76-83, ISSN 0033-3506, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.08.015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.08.015.",

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AU - Read, Brieze

AU - McNulty, Cliodna A.M.

AU - Verlander, Neville Q.

AU - Moss, Nicola

AU - Lecky, Donna M.

N1 - Funding Information: None declared. Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Publisher Copyright: Crown Copyright © 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health. Citation: Brieze Read, Cliodna A.M. McNulty, Neville Q. Verlander, Nicola Moss, Donna M. Lecky, Comparing public knowledge around value of hand and respiratory hygiene, vaccination, and pre- and post-national COVID-19 lockdown in England, Public Health, Volume 212, 2022, Pages 76-83, ISSN 0033-3506, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.08.015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.08.015.

PY - 2022/11

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N2 - Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. Existing literature focuses on healthcare professionals, whereas this article explores changes in public knowledge of IPC, where knowledge is comparably sparse. Study design: National surveys were conducted before (March 2020) and after (March 2021) the COVID-19 lockdown across England. Methods: A telephone survey of 1676 adults (2021) and a face-to-face survey of 2202 adults (2020) across England were conducted. Key demographics were representative of the population. Weighted logistic regression with composite Wald P-values was used to investigate knowledge change from 2020 to 2021. Results: Compared with 2020, significantly more respondents correctly stated that infections can spread by shaking hands (86% post vs 79% pre; P < .001) and that microbes are transferred through touching surfaces (90% vs 80%; P < .001). More knew that hand gel is effective at removing microbes if water and soap are unavailable (94% vs 92%; P = .015); that when you cough, you may infect other people near you in a room (90% vs 80%; P < .001). Knowledge that vaccination protects others from infection also increased (63% post vs 50% pre; P < .001). There was also significant increase in those confident in their answers. Conclusion: Knowledge of IPC measures was higher in 2021 than before the pandemic. Future public health hygiene campaigns should capitalise on this and emphasise that continuing hygiene behaviours, and vaccination can help prevent acquisition and illnesses with other non-COVID-19 infections, thus reducing the strain on the national health service.

AB - Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. Existing literature focuses on healthcare professionals, whereas this article explores changes in public knowledge of IPC, where knowledge is comparably sparse. Study design: National surveys were conducted before (March 2020) and after (March 2021) the COVID-19 lockdown across England. Methods: A telephone survey of 1676 adults (2021) and a face-to-face survey of 2202 adults (2020) across England were conducted. Key demographics were representative of the population. Weighted logistic regression with composite Wald P-values was used to investigate knowledge change from 2020 to 2021. Results: Compared with 2020, significantly more respondents correctly stated that infections can spread by shaking hands (86% post vs 79% pre; P < .001) and that microbes are transferred through touching surfaces (90% vs 80%; P < .001). More knew that hand gel is effective at removing microbes if water and soap are unavailable (94% vs 92%; P = .015); that when you cough, you may infect other people near you in a room (90% vs 80%; P < .001). Knowledge that vaccination protects others from infection also increased (63% post vs 50% pre; P < .001). There was also significant increase in those confident in their answers. Conclusion: Knowledge of IPC measures was higher in 2021 than before the pandemic. Future public health hygiene campaigns should capitalise on this and emphasise that continuing hygiene behaviours, and vaccination can help prevent acquisition and illnesses with other non-COVID-19 infections, thus reducing the strain on the national health service.

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KW - Infection prevention and control

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ER -

Comparing public knowledge around value of hand and respiratory hygiene, vaccination, and pre- and post-national COVID-19 lockdown in England

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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