Sensor recorded changes in rates of hand washing with soap in response to the media reports of the H1N1 pandemic in Britain

OBJECTIVES: To examine how the frequency of information regarding a real disease threat influences hand washing with soap. DESIGN AND SETTING: The authors installed wireless devices in highway service station lavatories in England to record the proportion of individuals washing hands with soap from May 2009 to January 2010. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were users of men's and women's toilets. Combined there was an average of 6800 participant entrances into the lavatories daily. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: The primary outcome measure is the proportion of soap usage to the number of entries into the lavatories. RESULTS: Hand-washing rates were positively related to both H1NI coverage in blogs and the news; however, these relationships were stronger for men than for women. CONCLUSIONS: Hand washing with soap increases proportionally to the frequency of media key words related to H1N1. Women's hand washing was more strongly associated with incidence of media keywords than men's.