The home use of antibacterial hand soap among women in Clark County, Nevada

The use of antibacterial products in the home is increasing. The broad-based use of these products may lead to antibiotic resistance and adverse health effects of the user due to exposure to the active ingredient(s). A cross-sectional study of Clark County, Nevada women was conducted to examine the relationship between the use of antibacterial soap in the homes of women who reside in Clark County and their knowledge regarding the negative side effects that could result from the use of antibacterial products, especially those containing triclosan; A survey was used to determine: (1) the reason women are using antibacterial products in their homes, (2) if they are aware of the negative outcomes that can result from and if they are under the impression that all bacteria are bad; The survey was distributed to participants at four Nevada Department of Motor Vehicle facilities in Las Vegas. The dependent variable was the use (yes or no) of antibacterial soap. Independent variables were the age (older than 30 or 18--30 years old), the economic status (more than {dollar}46,000 annual household income or less), and the participants\u27 awareness of the real facts about the antibacterial soap including having side effects, casing bacterial resistance, being ineffective against viral infections, and not being a cost effective infection control measure. The majority of the variables are reported as categorical data. SPSS version 13 was used to calculate descriptive statistics from both quantitative and qualitative questions; A large majority of participants used antibacterial soap in their home. Most of the participants who claimed to use antibacterial soap felt that it offered better protection from germs than regular soap. A majority of participants who used antibacterial soap also claimed that it protected them from a cold and the flu; Antibacterial soap is does not offer any additional protection against germs than regular soap. The purpose of band washing is to rid the skin of potentially harmful bacteria, not to destroy all the bacteria that are present