Comments on: Why Wash?

By: Michael Bishop

Michael Bishop — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:58:45 +0000

Robin, I appreciate the points you made in Against Disclaimers, but you are shooting yourself in the foot with posts like this. Would it really have been too difficult to say "I think this is interesting food for thought, that said, other studies have found benefits to hand washing/sanitizing."?

By: Silas Barta

Silas Barta — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:50:16 +0000

I think this is the part where you cry uncle.

By: Tim Canon

Tim Canon — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:12:03 +0000

This was the thought that popped into my mind when I read about this study elsewhere (though for the life of me I can’t remember where…probably MR). They placed sanitizers in classrooms to be used…they don’t specifically mention whether usage of hand-sanitizer rose during the time period studied.

An anecdotal remark: At my school, the health center “strategically” placed sanitizer in quite a few spots around campus once this swine flu business hit Drudge Report and everyone started caring. I notice, and I suspect this to be this case most everywhere, that the only people I knew personally who actually used the stuff actually had their own sanitizer beforehand, and used it obsessively anyway. Of course, that doesn’t mean that my observations equal the overall trend, but if what I observed is roughly true, then the only effect of giving out free sanitizer has less to do with improved health than improved pocketbooks for those who would otherwise be using their own sanitizer and now get it for free.

By: Robin Hanson

Robin Hanson — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:31:32 +0000

I certainly don’t mean to suggest that the answer is clear on this topic. Yes, these are also quite relevant data.

By: Robert Bloomfield

Robert Bloomfield — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:46:02 +0000

Even in highly regulated places like hospitals, the promising benefits of hand-washing remain largely unrealized.

What an odd conclusion! Every sentence before that led me to expect “Thus, hand-washing campaigns unlikely to be effective in reducing infection rates.”

By: Anon

Anon — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:43:33 +0000

Did the investigators assess compliance? If not, forget the study. Did they empirically measure compliance? For example, if given volume is expelled by the pump at each usage, what was the relationship between the volume used and expected use? This requires estimating the number of times the subjects should be washing our hands per day, such as before eating, after bodily functions, after changing the baby, before preparing food and so on and then comparing that to the volume of gel or number of wipes used. I’m betting they assessed compliance by the same questionnaire in which they asked about health events. If they did measure compliance, did they examine the relationship between compliance and the outcome variable?

By: Noumenon

Noumenon — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:20:23 +0000

the spread of respiratory infections in homes didn’t budge

common infections among inner-city families

out of four studies showed that alcohol-based hand sanitizers didn’t prevent respiratory infections.

Again, the rate of respiratory infections remained unchanged,

there is no good evidence that vigorous hand hygiene practices prevent flu transmission. …

no overall reduction in infection rates.

I was planning to say "so this just shows it doesn't work against respiratory infections," but I guess only 4 of 6 say that. And I realized colds are respiratory infections, and I did expect handwashing to help against them.

By: Tim Tyler

Tim Tyler — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:34:34 +0000

But: “A controlled study of 200 workers at FedEx in 2004 showed that placing hand sanitizer dispensers in an office and educating workers about their use resulted in a 21% reduction in absenteeism.[28] Controlled studies showed an even greater reduction in absenteeism (51%) in elementary schools[29] and college dormitories (43%).[30]”

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_sanitizer#Effectiveness

By: Robert Koslover

Robert Koslover — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:44:52 +0000

Does the provision of free hand sanitizers and free antiseptic wipes automatically result in their regular, consistent, and adequate use? I suspect not. After all, I had occasion to visit a patient in a well-respected hospital not along ago, for a few days in a row. Hand sanitizers were strategically positioned in hallways and on walls outside patient rooms. I used them fairly often (though I can’t claim to have been 100% consistent in that regard), but I noticed most people simply walked right past them.

By: sk

sk — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:08:28 +0000

may be the experiments should be repeated in hospitals.