Hand-Washing: The Main Strategy for Avoiding Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Dingmei Zhang, Zhiyuan Li, Wangjian Zhang, Pi Guo, Zhanzhong Ma, Qian Chen, Shaokun Du, Jing Peng, Yu Deng and Yuantao Hao
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Dingmei Zhang: School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
Zhiyuan Li: School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
Wangjian Zhang: School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
Pi Guo: School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
Zhanzhong Ma: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Yuebei People’s Hospital, Shaoguan 512026, China
Qian Chen: Department of Prevention and Health Care, Shijie Hospital of Dongguan, Dongguan 523290, China
Shaokun Du: Department of Prevention and Health Care, Shijie Hospital of Dongguan, Dongguan 523290, China
Jing Peng: Baoan Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518101, China
Yu Deng: School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
Yuantao Hao: School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-10

Abstract: Epidemics of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) among children have caused concern in China since 2007. We have conducted a retrospective study to investigate risk factors associated with HFMD. In this non-matching case-control study, 99 HFMD patients and 126 control from Guangdong Province were enlisted as participants. Data comprising demographic, socio-economic, clinical and behavior factors were collected from children’s parents through face-to-face interviews by trained interviewers using a standardized questionnaire. Results of the primary logistic regression analyses revealed that age, history of cold food consumption, hand-washing routines, and airing out bedding were significantly associated with HFMD cases. Results of further multivariate analysis indicated that older age (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.34–0.56) and hand-washing before meals (OR = 0.3, 95% CI: 0.13–0.70) are protective factors, whereas airing out bedding more than thrice a month (OR = 4.55, 95% CI: 1.19–17.37) was associated with increased risk for HFMD. Therefore, hand-washing should be recommended to prevent HFMD, and the potential threat of airing out bedding should be carefully considered. However, further studies are needed to examine other possible risk factors.

Keywords: hand, foot and mouth disease; hand-washing; risk factors; case-control study; children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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