During the early days of the COVID pandemic, everyone seemed to elevate their hand hygiene.
Photo: Bradley Corp.
But a new survey shows that men have reduced their handwashing frequency by half.
Men went from washing their hands about 10 times a day in April 2020 to five times a day this year. Women also reduced their frequency but not as significantly. They went from 11 times a day in 2020 to eight times.
In addition, the survey uncovered an increase in the "rinse-and-run" phenomenon. In the early days of the pandemic, 36% of men and 18% of women said they skipped soaping up. Today, nearly half of men (49%) and nearly a third of women (32%) confess they've cut the handwashing process to a quick rinse.
Photo: Bradley Corp.
Still, men are outperforming women in the final step of hand hygiene. When it comes to hand drying, 70% of men said they're doing it more completely these days in contrast to 63% of women who are.
Men and women were in agreement in how news coverage of flu outbreaks and new strains of the COVID virus impacted their handwashing - 42% of women and 39% of men said it had a significant effect on their actions.
The annual survey by the Bradley Corp., which makes washroom fixtures and accessories, queried 1,035 American adults from around the country, fairly evenly split between men (46%) and women (54%).