Knowledge and Practice of Hand Washing for the Prevention of Contagious DISEASES in Local Residents

The purpose of this study was to examine the level of knowledge on hand washing, practice of it(hand washing frequencies before meals, after discharge and after going out) and hand washing promotion experience based on the 2015 community health survey data for the region of Gyeongnam in an effort to determine the hand washing knowledge of local residents, their hand washing practice and promotion experience. As for the level of hand washing knowledge, the respondents who were female, who dwelled in urban communities, who were younger, whose academic background was better, whose monthly mean household income was larger and who engaged in economic activities were more knowledgeable. Concerning the level of practice, the respondents who were female, who resided in urban regions, who were younger, who were better educated, whose monthly mean household income was higher and who engaged in economic activities put all the three items into practice. In addition, the respondents with hand washing promotion experience were ahead of the others in terms of both knowledge and practice, and there were positive correlations among all the level of hand washing knowledge, the level of practice and promotion experience. Therefore the easiest way to prevent the frequent occurrence of contagious diseases caused by an increase in overseas trips and climate change and to promote individual people’s health is hand washing. Sustained moni-toring and the development of a variety of educational media and publicity methods are all required to encourage individuals to wash their hands in the right manner.