Journal of dental hygiene science (치위생과학회지)

The Korean Society of Dental Hygiene Science (한국치위생과학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

The Connection between Hand Washing and Brushing Teeth

  • Ra-Ae Bak (Department of Dental Hygiene, Yonsei Graduate School) ;
  • Sun-Jung Shin (Department of Dental Hygiene, Gangneung-Wonju National Uinversity) ;
  • Hee-Jung Park (Department of Dental Hygiene, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Jin-Young Jung (Hallym Research Institute of Clinical Epidemiology, Hallym University) ;
  • Hwa-Young Lee (Graduate School of Public Health and Healthcare Management, The Catholic University of Korea) ;
  • Nam-Hee Kim (Department of Dental Hygiene, Mirae Campus, Yonsei University)
  • Received : 2023.05.15
  • Accepted : 2023.06.09
  • Published : 2023.06.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to identify the connection between handwashing and toothbrushing, focusing on eating habits, and to verify whether eating habits can be used as an action cue for forming health habits. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using secondary data from the 2019 community health survey. The participants included 229,099 adults aged 19 years or older, representative of the South Korean people. We employed two dependent variables: one was washing hands, and the other was brushing teeth. Eating habits was a major independent variable. Socioeconomic variables, such as age, gender, income, occupation, economic activity, education, and residence were adjusted as confounders. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to calculate adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals. Results: Most of the participants had good health behaviors: those who wash their hands and brush their teeth were each approximately 80%. Our finding indicated that brushing teeth and washing hands can be connected with eating habits. After adjusting for confounders, it was found that people who wash their hands before meals (compared to those who did not wash their hands before meals) had a higher toothbrushing rate after meals (i.e., socioeconomic status) (Adjusted Odds Ratio: 2.0, Confidence Intervals: 1.9 to 2.1). Conclusion: Those who practice either washing hands before meals or brushing teeth after meals were found to have a connection between washing hands and brushing teeth based on the results of practicing other health behaviors. This implies that eating habits can be connected as a behavior cue to promote health habits, such as washing hands before meals and brushing teeth after meals.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The research was supported by a fund (Reseach No. 2022-11-003) by Research of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

References

  1. World Health Organization: Water, sanitation, hygiene and waste management for COVID-19. Retrieved 2023 May 1, from: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/331305 (2020, March 3).
  2. Park SJ, Kim JS, Kim GH, et al.: Changes in the hygienic behavior of Korean youth after COVID-19: Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey from 2016 to 2021, focusing on hand washing behavior. Korean J Health Educ Promot 39: 33-41, 2022. https://doi.org/10.14367/kjhep.2022.39.3.33
  3. Kim YB: Infectious disease prevention and personal hygiene education: focusing on the handwashing education. Korean J Health Educ Promot 37: 59-69, 2020. https://doi.org/10.14367/kjhep.2020.37.4.59
  4. Park HJ, Bae HJ: Evaluation of microbiological hazards of hygiene by the customers' hands in university foodservice operation. J Korean Soc Food Sci Nutr 35: 940-944, 2006. https://doi.org/10.3746/jkfn.2006.35.7.940
  5. Bae HJ: Analysis of contamination of bacteria from raw materials, utensils and workers' hands to prepared foods in foodservice operations. J Korean Soc Food Sci Nutr 35: 655-660, 2006. https://doi.org/10.3746/jkfn.2006.35.5.655
  6. Lim JY, Nam HS: Comparison of oral health conditions according to the practice of brushing before sleeping in adults using the 7th Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey (KNHANES VII-2) data. J Korea Acad-Ind cooper Soc 22: 379-386, 2021. https://doi.org/10.5762/KAIS.2021.22.10.3
  7. Cha ES, Son KY, Yun JM, Chung WJ, Cho BL, Jin BH: Associations between atherosclerosis and periodontitis, physical health and dental care: a pilot study. J Korean Acad Oral Health 41: 274-281, 2017. https://doi.org/10.11149/jkaoh.2017.41.4.274
  8. Lee KH, Kim BY, Kim CJ, et al.: Factors affecting oral health care and toothbrush use in adults. J Korean Soc Dent Hyg 17: 1081-1094, 2017. https://doi.org/10.13065/jksdh.2017.17.06.1081
  9. Kim SK, Park MY, Byeon EH, Yang SH, Choi SJ, Jung ES: A study on treatment satisfaction and oral health-related quality of life (OHIP-14) among implant patients. J Korean Soc Dent Hyg 18: 741-759, 2018. https://doi.org/10.13065/jksdh.20180047
  10. An HH, Lee MH, Seo HJ: Oral hygiene performance ability according to toothbrushing instruction. J Korea Soc Health Inform Stat 37: 43-52, 2012.
  11. Kim SH: The effect of plaque control (tooth brushing instruction) for oral health improvement on periodontitis patients. J Korean Soc Dent Hyg 11: 293-301, 2011.
  12. Dorri M, Sheiham A, Watt RG: Relationship between general hygiene behaviours and oral hygiene behaviours in Iranian adolescents. Eur J Oral Sci 117: 407-412, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0722.2009.00657.x
  13. Tran D, Phongsavan P, Bauman AE, Havea D, Galea G: Hygiene behaviour of adolescents in the Pacific: associations with socio-demographic, health behaviour and school environment. Asia Pac J Public Health 18: 3-11, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1177/10105395060180020201
  14. Kim EJ, Lee HJ: Relationship between the toothbrushing behavior and hand hygiene practices of Korean adolescents: a study focused on the 15th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted in 2019. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18: 5913, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115913
  15. Jin HJ, Lee YE, Ahn SH, et al.: The relationship between frequency of tooth brushing and hand washing in Korea adolescent. J Korean Soc Dent Hyg 13: 82-88, 2013. https://doi.org/10.13065/jksdh.2013.13.1.082
  16. Jung YS, Kim KR: Relationship between tooth brushing and hand washing among university students in Daegu.Gyeongbuk province. Korean J Clin Dent Hyg 10: 37-43, 2022. https://doi.org/10.12972/kjcdh.20220005
  17. Kim JH, Kim MY: The relationship between tooth brushing and hand washing in hypertensive patients amidst COVID-19 pandemic. J Korea Converg Soc 13: 501-508, 2022. https://doi.org/10.15207/JKCS.2022.13.05.501
  18. Shin KH, Chae KY, Yoo YJ: A study on the breakfast habits of salaried people in Seoul. Korean J Food Cook Sci 18: 119-128, 2002.
  19. Drewnowski A, Rehm CD, Vieux F: Breakfast in the United States: food and nutrient intakes in relation to diet quality in National Health and Examination Survey 2011-2014. a study from the international breakfast research initiative. Nutrients 10: 1200, 2018. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10091200
  20. Lee JS, Song JE: Nutritional status of Korean middle-age adults according to breakfast frequency- based on the 2015 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey -. Korean J Food Nutr 30: 644-652, 2017. https://doi.org/10.9799/ksfan.2017.30.4.644
  21. Lee SB, Choi HJ, Kim MJ: The relationships among quality of life and stress, health-related habits and food intake in Korean healthy adults based on 2013 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Korean J Community Nutr 20: 411-422, 2015. https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2015.20.6.411
  22. Roberto CA, Kawachi I: Behavioral economics and public health. Oxford University Press, New York, pp.69-76, 2015.
  23. Park HR: A study on the status of oral health & oral health attitude of workers in industries. J Dent Hyg Sci 6: 177-186, 2006.
  24. Kim YR: Integrated study on factors related to hand washing practice after COVID-19. J Korea Converg Soc 13: 85-91, 2022. https://doi.org/10.15207/JKCS.2022.13.02.085
  25. Shin BM, Bae SM, Yoo SH, Shin SJ: Oral health and occupational status among Korean adults. J Dent Hyg Sci 16: 225-234, 2016. https://doi.org/10.17135/jdhs.2016.16.3.225
  26. Cho SH, Jang JH, Ha TY, Lee KS, Kim MK, Seo JS: A survey on breakfast of workers in Daegu area. Korean J Community Nutr 9: 673-682, 2004.
  27. Lee JM, Kim WJ, Sohn HS, Chun JH, Lee MJ, Park HS: Influences on health behaviors execution and self rated health as socioeconomic class by the age bracket. J Korea Contents Assoc 12: 317-327, 2012. https://doi.org/10.5392/JKCA.2012.12.06.317
  28. Hanson MD, Chen E: Socioeconomic status and health behaviors in adolescence: a review of the literature. J Behav Med 30: 263-285, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-007-9098-3
  29. Kim GH, Kwon YS: The relationship between hand washing practice and health belief model of hand washing among dental practitioners. J Korean Appl Sci Technol 35: 587-594, 2018. https://doi.org/10.12925/jkocs.2018.35.3.587
  30. Kim SJ, Jung EY: A relevance on health perception, health knowledge and health promotion behavior of the university students. J Korea Acad-Ind cooper Soc 16: 5394-5403, 2015. https://doi.org/10.5762/KAIS.2015.16.8.5394
  31. Kim JH, Jung IK: Relationship between practice of physical activities guideline and health-related factors in adolescents: based on 11th (2015) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBS). J Korean Assoc Phys Educ Sport Girls Women 30: 335-355, 2016. https://doi.org/10.16915/jkapesgw.2016.12.30.4.335