Knowledge, anxiety, worry and social norms related to COVID affect handwashing.
What is this review about?
Health-protective behaviours, such as handwashing, will be vital to reducing risk of infection and transmission in potential new waves of COVID. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that influence this behaviour and that can be modified.
This review examined the modifiable psychological or psychosocial determinants of handwashing.
What is the aim of this review?
This Campbell systematic review examines the determinants of handwashing in studies conducted during the COVID-19. The review summarizes evidence from 56 studies.
What are the main findings of this review?
What studies are included?
This review included studies that looked at different determinants of handwashing. We included 56 studies in the review, 28 of these were included in our meta-analysis, and 34 were described narratively. The studies were all conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and were conducted in 22 different countries. Many of the studies were good quality however 8 had some important weaknesses, including not providing enough detail about the sample, about how handwashing was measured and about the determinant they included.
What determinants were associated with handwashing?
Determinants such as knowledge of COVID, worry and anxiety about COVID and social norms were the most associated with COVID-related handwashing. Perceived susceptibility to COVID and perceived severity of COVID had little to no effect on handwashing.
What do the findings of this review mean?
Understanding what determinants affect handwashing behaviour can help us develop better public campaigns for potential future waves of COVID or other respiratory infections. Knowledge, social norms, emotions (such as anxiety and worry) should be the target of future interventions aiming to increase handwashing to minimise respiratory infections.
How up-to-date is this review?
The authors of this review employed search strategies intended to capture studies up until October 2021.