Sanitary Bathroom Habits: Men & Women

Background:

Hand Washing with Soap: •Single

most effective

behavior to reduce spread of infectious diseases •In United States: infectious diseases = leading cause of death Recent Study: •Sampled the hands of commuters using public transportation:

• ¼

of people had

FECAL

on hands

matter

Background:

Studies on Hand Washing Behavior: Wireless sensors measuring for 32 days: 65% WOMEN, 33% MEN 1996 Observational study: 74% WOMEN , 61% MEN 2000 Observational, 5 cities in U.S: 75% WOMEN , 58% MEN 2004: Observation on college campus: 85% WOMEN , 69% MEN

Background:

More about the 2004 College Study: 410 Students Observed • Of those that washed their hands, only 64%

used soap

• 10%

longer than 15 seconds

• 69% of those who washed hands washed for

1-6 seconds

Background:

Study conducted during SARS outbreak:

97%

Women

95%

Men washed hands Survey on Hand Washing: •

95%

of respondents reported hand washing in public restrooms •Hand washing =

socially desirable

(over-reported in surveys)

Data Collection:

Observational Study: In Public Restrooms

•Observed: 132 MEN 121 WOMEN •Locations:

Briarwood mall: Ann Arbor, MI RiverTown Crossings mall: Grandville, MI Quality 16 movie theater: Ann Arbor, MI Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Int’l Airport: Atlanta, GA

•Recorded:

If hands were washed (with or without soap) Time spent washing hands Total time spent in bathroom

•Variables: •Research Questions:

1. Do

more females wash their hands

in a public restroom than males?

2. Do

females wash their hands for a longer

public restrooms?

period of time than males in 3. Do

females spend more time

in the public bathrooms than males?

Power Analysis:

POWER: 80% SIGNIFICANCE: 0.05 HYPOTHESES: 1-Sided TEST 1: TEST 2: TEST 3: (compare proportions) (compare means) (compare means) •Parameter: 15% diff.

• NEED : 134 each gender •SAMPLE: 121 132 Females Males •Parameter: 2 sec. diff • NEED : 20 each gender •SAMPLE: 29 38 Females Males •Parameter: 0.5 min. diff • NEED : 20 each gender •SAMPLE: 27 42 Females Males

Relationship 1:

Question: Is there a higher proportion of females who wash their hands after using a public restroom than males?

Null Hypothesis: The same proportion of males and females wash their hands after using public restrooms Alternative Hypothesis: A higher proportion of females than males wash their hands after using public restrooms Variables Compared: Gender and Handwashing (both categorical)

Cross Tabulation: Compare Proportions

Collection 1

Gender

Female Male Column Summary No 6 4.95868

62 46.9697

68 26.8775

S1 = count S2 = row Proportion • Yes 115 95.0413

Row Summary 121 100 70 53.0303

185 73.1225

132 100 253 100 At Least Five of Each Response Variable: Yes

Proportion Wash: Female

95.04%

Sample Size Female: 121

Proportion Wash: Male

53.03%

Sample Size Male: 132 In our sample, FEMALES washed hands more often than males.

Traditional Test P-value:

<0.0001 < .05

Conclusion Relationship 1:

1. P-Value 0.003 is less than significance level of 0.05  REJECT NULL HYPOTHESIS ***it is unlikely that the difference in proportions observed occurred by chance!!!

2. Evidence supports the alternative hypothesis : ***in this sample, the proportion of females who wash their hands after using a public restroom is greater than the proportion of males

3. Within the population of Americans

wash their hands more often than males after using a public restroom.

, adult females did indeed

Relationship 2:

Question: Do females wash their hands after using public restrooms for a longer period of time than males?

Null Hypothesis: Females and males wash their hands the same amount of time after using public restrooms Alternative Hypothesis: Females wash their hands for a longer amount of time than males after using public restrooms Variables Compared: Gender and Time Spent Washing (one categorical and one quantitative)

TIME SPENT HAND WASHING (sec)

BOX PLOT: COMPARE MEANS

SKEWNESS: NONE OUTLIERS: ONE GENDER

Mean seconds MALES:

5.4 sec

Sample Size Males: 29

Mean seconds FEMALES:

7.8 sec

Sample Size Females: 38 In our sample,

FEMALES

2.4

washed hands in restroom for seconds longer, on average

Traditional Test P-value:

0.0034 < 0.05

Conclusion Relationship 2:

1. P-Value 0.003 is less than significance level of 0.05  REJECT NULL HYPOTHESIS ***it is unlikely that the difference in means observed occurred by chance!!!

2.

Evidence supports the alternative hypothesis

: ***in this sample, the difference in means found (females wash hands an average of 2.4 seconds longer) was significant

3. Within the population of Americans

, adult females did indeed spend more seconds washing their hands after using a public restroom

Relationship 3:

Question: Do females spend more time in public restrooms than males?

Null Hypothesis: Females and males spend the same amount of time in public restrooms Alternative Hypothesis: Females spend more time than males in public restrooms Variables Compared: Gender and Time Spent in Restroom (one categorical and one quantitative)

TIME SPENT IN BATHROOM (min)

BOX PLOT: COMPARE MEANS

SKEWNESS:

Slight

in males, nothing major OUTLIERS: ZERO GENDER

Mean minutes MALES:

1.03 min

Sample Size Males: 42

Mean minutes FEMALES:

2.73 min

Sample Size Females: 27 In our sample, FEMALES spent

1.7 more

minutes in the bathroom, on average.

Traditional Test P-value:

<0.00001 < 0.05

Conclusion Relationship 3:

1. P-Value <0.00001 is less than significance level of 0.05  REJECT NULL HYPOTHESIS ***it is unlikely that the difference in means observed occurred by chance!!!

2.

Evidence supports the alternative hypothesis

: ***in this sample, the difference in means found (females spend 1.7 more minutes in public restrooms than males) was significant

3. Within the population of Americans

, spend more minutes public restrooms adult females did indeed

Final Summary:

Test 1:

•Proportion of males & females who wash hands in public restroom •P-value < 0.001

•REJECT NULL HYPOTHESIS •Females proportion:

42% higher

Test 3:

•Time spent in public restrooms •P-value < 0.001

•REJECT NULL HYPOTHESIS •Females spend

1.7 minutes longer

, on average, in our sample

Test 2:

•Time spent washing hands •P-value: 0.003

•REJECT NULL HYPOTHESIS •Females:

2.4 seconds longer

, on average, in our sample

Study Limitations:

• Lindsay & Christine created a

SOCIAL PRESSURE

collection ( stood near the subjects during data as they washed hands) • Difficult to

MEASURE PRECICESLY

hands how long subjects washed • Couldn’t tell a difference between when subjects were

ALONE

when they were being watched and •

LOCATIONS

: 3 public places in Michigan, and one place in Atlanta: NOT very representative of the whole country

Resources for Background Information:

Judah, G., Schmidt, W., Michie, S., Granger, S., & Curtis, V. Experimental Pretesting of Hand-Washing Interventions in a Natural Setting. 2009. American Journal of Public healh, 99 (2), 405-411. Monk-Turner, E., Edwards, D., Broadstone, J., Hummel, R., Lewis, S., & Wilson, D. Another Look at Hand-Washing Behavior. 2005. Social Behavior and Personality, 33(7), 629-634.