TABLE 2. Percentage of respondents who reported remembering to wash their hands after using the bathroom at home, after using the bathroom in public and after coughing, sneezing or blowing their nose, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, by selected characteristics — ConsumerStyles fall and summer surveys, United States, October 2019 and June 2020*.
| Characteristic | Weighted %
(95% CI) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| After using
the bathroom at home |
After using
the bathroom in public |
After
coughing, sneezing, or blowing nose |
||||
| 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|
Overall
|
85.9
(84.6–87.2)
|
89.6
(88.5–90.8)
|
95.5
(94.6–96.3)
|
94.8
(93.8–95.8)
|
53.3
(51.4–55.2)
|
71.2
(69.5–72.9)
|
|
Sex
| ||||||
| Women |
88.8 (87.1–90.5) |
91.4 (89.8–92.9) |
96.5 (95.4–97.6) |
94.9 (93.5–96.4) |
59.7 (57.0–62.4) |
76.6 (74.3–78.9) |
| Men |
82.8 (80.7–84.8) |
87.8 (86.1–89.6) |
94.4 (93.1–95.7) |
94.6 (93.3–95.9) |
46.4 (43.7–49.1) |
65.4 (62.9–68.0) |
|
Age group
(yrs)
| ||||||
| 18–24 |
84.6 (78.5–90.8) |
88.0 (82.0–94.0) |
95.7 (92.1–99.3) |
90.7 (85.2–96.2) |
48.4 (39.7–57.1) |
70.5 (62.0–78.9) |
| 25–34 |
81.8 (78.1–85.5) |
88.0 (84.9–91.0) |
93.6 (91.1–96.2) |
94.7 (92.4–97.1) |
50.0 (45.1–54.9) |
64.0 (59.5–68.6) |
| 35–44 |
85.8 (82.8–88.8) |
86.7 (83.9–89.6) |
97.3 (95.7–98.8) |
94.1 (91.8–96.4) |
54.9 (50.3–59.4) |
70.9 (67.2–74.7) |
| 45–54 |
86.4 (43.5–89.3) |
91.1 (88.7–93.5) |
94.9 (92.9–96.8) |
95.3 (93.4–97.2) |
61.4 (57.1–65.7) |
73.8 (70.2–77.4) |
| 55–64 |
89.5 (87.5–91.6) |
91.5 (89.7–93.4) |
95.9 (94.3–97.4) |
96.5 (95.2–97.9) |
55.5 (52.0–59.1) |
74.6 (71.6–77.6) |
| 65–74 |
87.3 (84.8–89.9) |
91.9 (89.8–94.0) |
96.1 (94.5–97.6) |
96.7 (95.2–98.2) |
51.7 (47.7–55.7) |
75.3 (72.0–78.7) |
| ≥75 |
86.1 (82.2–89.9) |
91.1 (87.7–94.4) |
95.1 (92.7–97.4) |
93.5 (89.6–97.1) |
44.0 (38.4–49.6) |
69.2 (63.7–74.7) |
|
Race/Ethnicity
| ||||||
| White, NH |
84.4 (82.8–85.9) |
89.5 (88.1–90.8) |
96.4 (95.6–97.1) |
96.1 (95.2–97.1) |
49.6 (47.4–51.8) |
68.9 (66.8–70.9) |
| Black, NH |
88.0 (83.6–92.5) |
91.3 (87.9–94.8) |
93.2 (89.6–96.9) |
91.9 (88.4–95.4) |
65.5 (59.4–71.6) |
83.2 (78.8–87.5) |
| Other, NH |
90.0 (85.0–95.1) |
89.6 (85.2–94.0) |
96.4 (93.5–99.3) |
95.7 (92.6–98.8) |
50.7 (42.4–59.1) |
70.3 (63.1–77.4) |
| Hispanic or Latino |
88.8 (85.1–92.5) |
89.0 (85.4–92.7) |
93.4 (90.5–96.3) |
90.8 (87.3–94.4) |
60.2 (54.6–65.9) |
72.0 (67.0–77.0) |
| Multiracial, NH |
82.9 (73.1–92.8) |
90.6 (82.8–98.5) |
92.7 (86.4–99.1) |
99.4 (98.2–100.0) |
49.2 (38.5–60.0) |
73.5 (62.7–84.3) |
|
Health
status†
| ||||||
| Excellent |
85.2 (81.0–89.3) |
90.1 (86.4–93.9) |
95.2 (92.7–97.7) |
95.1 (92.1–98.1) |
55.6 (49.3–61.9) |
71.3 (66.0–76.7) |
| Very Good |
87.8 (85.9–89.7) |
89.8 (88.0–91.7) |
97.2 (96.2–98.2) |
96.2 (94.8–97.6) |
55.6 (52.6–58.7) |
72.1 (69.4–74.8) |
| Good |
85.7 (83.3–88.0) |
89.6 (87.7–91.6) |
94.7 (93.1–96.3) |
94.5 (92.9–96.1) |
50.9 (47.7–54.2) |
71.4 (68.6–74.3) |
| Fair |
82.7 (78.6–86.7) |
90.6 (87.7–93.5) |
94.3 (91.5–97.1) |
93.7 (90.9–96.5) |
51.6 (46.3–56.8) |
69.0 (63.3–73.5) |
| Poor |
81.6 (72.5–90.6) |
84.3 (76.4–92.3) |
89.7 (82.3–97.0) |
87.0 (78.6–95.4) |
47.2 (36.2–58.2) |
69.4 (58.8–80.1) |
|
U.S. Census
division
| ||||||
| New England |
82.5 (76.0–88.9) |
92.3 (88.4–96.3) |
95.1 (91.8–98.3) |
96.3 (93.9–98.7) |
55.7 (47.0–64.4) |
77.9 (71.2–84.6) |
| Mid-Atlantic |
89.7 (86.5–93.0) |
90.6 (87.4–93.7) |
96.9 (95.3–98.5) |
94.4 (91.7–97.1) |
55.5 (50.3–60.8) |
72.7 (68.0–77.4) |
| East-North Central |
83.9 (80.4–87.4) |
92.2 (89.8–94.7) |
94.3 (91.9–96.8) |
96.6 (94.7–98.5) |
49.0 (44.1–53.9) |
72.2 (67.9–76.4) |
| West-North Central |
79.8 (74.1–85.5) |
88.0 (83.5–92.5) |
96.6 (93.9–99.4) |
96.1 (93.5–98.6) |
48.4 (41.4–55.4) |
71.6 (65.4–77.8) |
| South Atlantic |
86.0 (83.1–88.9) |
88.7 (86.1–91.4) |
97.1 (95.5–98.7) |
94.4 (92.0–96.8) |
56.2 (52.1–60.4) |
73.2 (69.5–77.0) |
| East-South Central |
87.0 (81.7–92.2) |
82.4 (76.0–88.7) |
96.1 (93.2–99.0) |
91.5 (86.3–96.7) |
60.0 (52.1–68.0) |
61.9 (53.2–70.6) |
| West-South Central |
85.7 (81.5–89.9) |
89.4 (85.7–93.0) |
91.2 (87.5–94.8) |
94.3 (91.0–97.5) |
55.1 (49.2–60.9) |
72.0 (66.9–77.1) |
| Mountain |
85.7 (80.6–90.1) |
90.2 (85.8–94.5) |
95.8 (92.9–98.7) |
95.3 (92.0–98.7) |
45.2 (38.1–52.4) |
69.9 (63.5–76.2) |
| Pacific |
87.5 (84.3–90.8) |
89.7 (86.5–92.8) |
95.7 (93.6–97.8) |
94.2 (91.6–96.8) |
52.8 (47.8–57.7) |
67.2 (62.8–71.7) |
|
Annual household
income (US$)
| ||||||
| <25,000 |
82.1 (77.7–86.5) |
85.9 (81.7–90.0) |
89.8 (86.3–93.4) |
85.7 (81.1–90.3) |
57.9 (52.5–63.4) |
70.2 (64.6–75.8) |
| 25,000–49,999 |
89.2 (86.5–91.8) |
90.2 (87.4–93.0) |
96.8 (95.4–98.2) |
95.8 (93.6–98.1) |
56.0 (51.3–60.6) |
73.5 (69.3–77.7) |
| 50,000–74,999 |
86.2 (83.2–89.2) |
91.0 (88.5–93.5) |
95.2 (93.1–97.2) |
95.5 (93.4–97.5) |
54.2 (49.6–58.9) |
71.5 (67.3–75.7) |
| 75,000–99,999 |
87.1 (83.8–90.4) |
90.7 (87.8–93.7) |
96.2 (94.5–97.9) |
95.8 (93.9–97.7) |
53.3 (48.3–58.3) |
72.6 (68.1–77.1) |
| 100,000–149,999 |
85.9 (82.9–88.8) |
91.7 (88.4–93.0) |
97.7 (96.5–98.9) |
97.1 (95.7–98.5) |
49.8 (45.6–54.1) |
70.9 (67.3–74.5) |
| ≥150,000 |
87.6 (80.5–88.6) |
87.8 (84.3–91.2) |
96.7 (94.5–99.0) |
95.2 (92.5–97.9) |
50.3 (44.9–55.8) |
72.6 (68.2–77.1) |
|
Work
status
§
| ||||||
| Working |
85.2 (83.5–86.9) |
89.3 (87.8–90.8) |
95.9 (94.8–96.9) |
95.1 (93.9–96.3) |
53.2 (50.8–55.6) |
70.7 (68.5–72.8) |
| Not working |
86.4 (82.9–89.9) |
88.0 (84.5–91.5) |
94.8 (92.5–97.1) |
93.0 (90.1–95.9) |
56.4 (51.2–61.7) |
70.7 (65.9–75.6) |
| Retired |
87.7 (85.4–90.0) |
92.2 (90.4–94.0) |
94.9 (93.4–96.5) |
95.4 (93.6–97.1) |
50.3 (46.8–53.8) |
73.5 (70.4–76.5) |
|
Education
| ||||||
| Less than high school |
85.9 (81.2–90.7) |
88.0 (82.3–92.4) |
90.5 (86.5–94.4) |
87.8 (82.6–93.1) |
58.2 (50.8–65.7) |
71.6 (64.7–78.5) |
| High school |
87.7 (85.3–90.1) |
90.3 (88.1–92.5) |
94.5 (92.8–96.3) |
92.9 (90.8–95.0) |
59.1 (55.5–62.7) |
75.3 (72.1–78.4) |
| Some college |
85.5 (82.8–88.1) |
89.0 (86.6–91.3) |
96.0 (94.5–97.5) |
96.2 (94.7–97.7) |
53.0 (49.4–56.6) |
72.5 (69.1–78.8) |
| Bachelor’s degree or
higher |
84.7 (82.6–86.7) |
90.4 (88.8–91.9) |
97.5 (96.6–98.4) |
97.3 (96.4–98.3) |
46.7 (43.8–49.7) |
66.7 (64.1–69.3) |
|
Metro
status
¶
| ||||||
| Non-metro |
82.4 (78.5–86.2) |
86.4 (82.7–90.0) |
96.6 (95.0–98.3) |
94.5 (91.5–97.4) |
52.3 (47.2–57.4) |
68.7 (63.6–73.7) |
| Metro |
86.5 (85.4–87.9) |
90.2 (88.9–91.4) |
95.3 (94.4–96.2) |
94.8 (93.8–95.9) |
53.4 (51.4–55.5) |
71.6 (69.8–73.4) |
|
Household
size
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
84.4 (81.6–87.3) |
87.0 (84.0–89.9) |
94.3 (92.5–96.2) |
92.9 (90.4–95.4) |
51.1 (47.2–55.0) |
69.5 (65.6–73.4) |
| 2 |
85.1 (83.1–87.1) |
89.7 (87.9–91.5) |
96.2 (95.1–97.3) |
95.5 (93.9–97.0) |
51.3 (48.5–54.1) |
71.2 (68.6–73.8) |
| 3 |
86.3 (83.1–89.6) |
90.2 (87.2–93.2) |
93.4 (90.7–96.1) |
94.6 (92.0–97.1) |
54.4 (49.2–59.1) |
72.6 (68.5–76.8) |
| 4 |
85.7 (81.9–89.6) |
90.6 (88.0–93.3) |
95.4 (93.1–97.8) |
96.1 (94.1–98.0) |
54.8 (49.4–60.1) |
71.9 (67.3–76.5) |
| ≥5 |
88.8 (85.2–92.5) |
90.3 (86.7–93.8) |
97.6 (96.0–99.1) |
94.0 (90.9–97.0) |
56.6 (50.2–62.8) |
70.5 (65.2–75.8) |
|
Marital
status
| ||||||
| Married/Living with
partner |
86.2 (84.7–87.7) |
90.1 (88.8–91.4) |
96.0 (95.0–96.9) |
95.9 (94.9–96.9) |
54.0 (51.8–56.2) |
71.5 (69.6–73.5) |
| Single | 85.4 (83.0–87.9) | 88.9 (86.6–91.1) | 94.7 (93.1–96.3) | 93.0 (90.9–95.0) | 52.1 (48.6–55.7) | 70.7 (67.4–73.9) |
Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval; NH = non-Hispanic.
* Surveys were conducted during October 8–22, 2019 (N = 3,624), and June 10–25, 2020 (N = 4,053).
† Health status was self-reported. Participants answered the question, “In general, would you say your health is…?” and were instructed to choose one answer.
§ Work status was defined as working (as a paid employee or self-employed); not working (looking for work, on temporary layoff from a job, disabled, or other); and not working, retired.
¶ Metro status was defined by U.S. Office of Management and Budget core-based statistical area.