Hand-to-Environment Contact during Indoor Activities in Senior Welfare Centers among Korean Older Adults: A Pilot Study
(1) Background: This study aimed to describe the characteristics of hand-to-environment contact (HEC) and identify the influencing factors of HEC behavior during the indoor daily life of Korean older adults in senior welfare centers. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was used with 3...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/2/105 |
| _version_ | 1797409410834759680 |
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| author | Hyang Soon Oh Youngran Yang Sun Young Jeong Mikyung Ryu |
| author_facet | Hyang Soon Oh Youngran Yang Sun Young Jeong Mikyung Ryu |
| author_sort | Hyang Soon Oh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | (1) Background: This study aimed to describe the characteristics of hand-to-environment contact (HEC) and identify the influencing factors of HEC behavior during the indoor daily life of Korean older adults in senior welfare centers. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was used with 30 participants over 65 years of age attending programs in senior welfare centers. Video recordings of the 30 participants were collected for two hours a day for participants selected from 20 November to 4 December 2018. Contact frequency, density, and duration were measured. (3) Results: Video recordings of 3,930 HEC cases were analyzed. Furniture surface (25.0%), tableware and cooking utensils (5.4%), phones (5.3%), and door handles (0.1%) were found to be the items with the most frequent contact, in this order. The average contact frequency and contact density (frequency-duration/min/person) of HEC for two hours were highest for the Category I equipment (personally used, accounting for 70.4%), and the average contact duration of HEC was highest in the Category III equipment (commonly used, 47.7 s/contact/person). Contact density was as high as 266.5 (frequency-duration/min/person). Participants above 75 years of age and the unemployed showed high HEC with Category III. (4) Conclusions: Older adults need to be educated to avoid unnecessary hand contact with items in Category III. In particular, hand hygiene and sanitization through the regular and thorough disinfection of furniture surfaces and shared equipment are very important to prevent the spread of pathogens. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:14:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9caeabdfd4be4496a64c29848c668eb7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:14:13Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-9caeabdfd4be4496a64c29848c668eb72023-12-03T13:56:23ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322021-01-019210510.3390/healthcare9020105Hand-to-Environment Contact during Indoor Activities in Senior Welfare Centers among Korean Older Adults: A Pilot StudyHyang Soon Oh0Youngran Yang1Sun Young Jeong2Mikyung Ryu3Department of Nursing, College of Life Science and Natural Resources, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, KoreaCollege of Nursing, Research Institute of Nursing Science, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, KoreaCollege of Nursing, Konyang University, Daejeon 35365, KoreaDepartment of Nursing, Daegu University, Daegu 42400, Korea(1) Background: This study aimed to describe the characteristics of hand-to-environment contact (HEC) and identify the influencing factors of HEC behavior during the indoor daily life of Korean older adults in senior welfare centers. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was used with 30 participants over 65 years of age attending programs in senior welfare centers. Video recordings of the 30 participants were collected for two hours a day for participants selected from 20 November to 4 December 2018. Contact frequency, density, and duration were measured. (3) Results: Video recordings of 3,930 HEC cases were analyzed. Furniture surface (25.0%), tableware and cooking utensils (5.4%), phones (5.3%), and door handles (0.1%) were found to be the items with the most frequent contact, in this order. The average contact frequency and contact density (frequency-duration/min/person) of HEC for two hours were highest for the Category I equipment (personally used, accounting for 70.4%), and the average contact duration of HEC was highest in the Category III equipment (commonly used, 47.7 s/contact/person). Contact density was as high as 266.5 (frequency-duration/min/person). Participants above 75 years of age and the unemployed showed high HEC with Category III. (4) Conclusions: Older adults need to be educated to avoid unnecessary hand contact with items in Category III. In particular, hand hygiene and sanitization through the regular and thorough disinfection of furniture surfaces and shared equipment are very important to prevent the spread of pathogens.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/2/105contacthandenvironmenttransmissioninfectionaged |
| spellingShingle | Hyang Soon Oh Youngran Yang Sun Young Jeong Mikyung Ryu Hand-to-Environment Contact during Indoor Activities in Senior Welfare Centers among Korean Older Adults: A Pilot Study Healthcare contact hand environment transmission infection aged |
| title | Hand-to-Environment Contact during Indoor Activities in Senior Welfare Centers among Korean Older Adults: A Pilot Study |
| title_full | Hand-to-Environment Contact during Indoor Activities in Senior Welfare Centers among Korean Older Adults: A Pilot Study |
| title_fullStr | Hand-to-Environment Contact during Indoor Activities in Senior Welfare Centers among Korean Older Adults: A Pilot Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hand-to-Environment Contact during Indoor Activities in Senior Welfare Centers among Korean Older Adults: A Pilot Study |
| title_short | Hand-to-Environment Contact during Indoor Activities in Senior Welfare Centers among Korean Older Adults: A Pilot Study |
| title_sort | hand to environment contact during indoor activities in senior welfare centers among korean older adults a pilot study |
| topic | contact hand environment transmission infection aged |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/2/105 |
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