Abstract
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has raised concerns over safety in the personal care service industry in regards to disease transmission and infection control. The industry has suffered under new orders and directives issued by public health officials. Personal service establishments (PSEs) rely on clients going to establishments to receive services that often involve close proximity between the client and service provider, something that is recommended against to prevent COVID-19 transmission. PSEs have since adjusted their operations to accommodate for the pandemic, however its impacts on the perceptions of hygiene and sanitation in these establishments remained to be assessed. METHODS: A self-administered online survey was created using SurveyMonkey and results were analyzed using NCSS 2021 Statistical Software. The survey link was posted on the website Reddit and emailed to eligible contacts. Multiple choice and open-ended questions were included in the survey and covered topics such as demographics, current and past PSE attendance, perceptions of hygiene and sanitation in PSEs and regulation in the industry. RESULTS: Among the eligible respondents, 55% chose skill as the reason for choosing a particular PSE while only 18% chose cleanliness of the establishment. 64% of the respondents felt hesitant to return to a PSE during the pandemic. Overall, the frequency of visits since the pandemic decreased, and the importance of hygiene and sanitation increased. 66% of the respondents indicated that mandatory safety training and certification would make them feel safer about going to PSEs. There were no associations found between the importance of hygiene and sanitation before the pandemic and hesitancy to return to PSEs according to Pearson's Chi square test (P=0.432), nor between age group and the importance of hygiene and sanitation during the pandemic (P=0.547). Several open-ended responses indicated that more regulation and enforcement in the industry is needed. CONCLUSIONS: The PSE industry in BC severely lacks regulations and enforcement in comparison to the food industry. This study was able to provide evidence that COVID-19 has made an impact on the perceptions of hygiene and sanitation in PSEs. More people seem to be aware of and agree on the need for more regulation. However, the challenge remains in applying consistent standards to an industry where such a wide array of services is offered.