Influence of Hand Sanitisers on the Friction Properties of the Finger Skin Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic involved in increased hand hygiene to prevent virus transmission. There are a lot of hand hygiene products available on the market but if are frequently used they may alter skin barrier integrity and function. This aspect can be important in daily living activities that involve gripping, feeling and manipulating objects. In this paper the authors studied the influence of the frequently hand disinfection on the friction behavior of the finger skin. Commercially available alcohol-based hand sanitisers were used to perform repeated skin disinfection and the coefficient of friction (COF) was measured on three healthy subjects by using a steel cylinder laterally sliding on the finger tip skin. The preliminary results showed that for all test subjects the coefficient of friction significantly decrease, up to 50%, when frequently hand sanitisers are used compared to daily “dry” skin condition.