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I'd like to see the paper that shows medical doctors only wash their hands 9% of times after going to the bathroom.

The number is mind-blowingly low, especially since when I'm in public restrooms myself, the number of people who wash their hands seems to be in the majority.

Of course, my sampling could be off because people could be self concious of being watched, doctors could be in more of a rush, etc. But 9%? That's an incredible data point and needs incredible evidence.

Edit: Went back and read the original study. First of all, the study isn't about washing hands after the /toilet/ at all, but rather about washing hands after /patient contact/. Second, nowhere obvious in the study does it say that doctors believe they washed hands 73% of times. In fact, there is no mention of any survey whatsoever...




Not that it was easy to find, but it was there:

""Fourteen of these 19 subjects subsequently participated in the remain- ing phases of the program. Among this cohort, the mean self-estimated handwashing rate was 73% (range, 50%-95%), compared with the covertly observed rate for this cohort of 8.6% before and 10.8% after patient contact, with an individual mean rate of 10% (range, 0-33%)."




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