Effect of a school-based hand hygiene program for Malawian children: a cluster randomized controlled trial
Effect of a school-based hand hygiene program for Malawian children: a cluster randomized controlled trial
Background: Proper handwashing technique can reduce the mortality of a child. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a school-based hand hygiene program on the handwashing compliance of children and school absenteeism in Southern Africa. Methods: We conducted a 2-arm cluster randomized trial in which 6 private primary schools were allocated randomly to either intervention (3 schools) or control (3 schools) groups. The intervention group consisted of implementing a series of planned activities and measures of hand hygiene program over 9 months. Parameters of primary and secondary outcomes were estimated with generalized estimating equations. Results: There were no significant between-group differences in demographic characteristics. The knowledge scores in the intervention group were significantly higher than the scores in the control group, and the technique scores in the intervention group were significantly higher than the scores in the control group after baseline. Further, after the third month, the cleanliness scores in the intervention group were significantly higher than the scores in the control group. In addition, the number of sick leave days decreased in the intervention group. Conclusions: The impact of the school-based hand hygiene program was positive. It can be used in both the planning and development of a hand hygiene protocol to increase the handwashing compliance rate of schoolchildren and to reduce school absenteeism in developing countries.
Developing countries, Handwashing compliance rate, Health policy, School absenteeism, Schoolchildren, Simplified handwashing procedure
1460-1464
Mbakaya, Balwani Chingatichifwe
fcb84939-a6b9-42ba-9979-2f4488535350
Lee, Paul
02620eab-ae7f-4a1c-bad1-8a50e7e48951
Lee, Regina Lai Tong
76f8a357-ae4e-4e60-9583-75e033aa9fe7
1 December 2019
Mbakaya, Balwani Chingatichifwe
fcb84939-a6b9-42ba-9979-2f4488535350
Lee, Paul
02620eab-ae7f-4a1c-bad1-8a50e7e48951
Lee, Regina Lai Tong
76f8a357-ae4e-4e60-9583-75e033aa9fe7
Mbakaya, Balwani Chingatichifwe, Lee, Paul and Lee, Regina Lai Tong
(2019)
Effect of a school-based hand hygiene program for Malawian children: a cluster randomized controlled trial.
American Journal of Infection Control, 47 (12), .
(doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2019.06.009).
Abstract
Background: Proper handwashing technique can reduce the mortality of a child. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a school-based hand hygiene program on the handwashing compliance of children and school absenteeism in Southern Africa. Methods: We conducted a 2-arm cluster randomized trial in which 6 private primary schools were allocated randomly to either intervention (3 schools) or control (3 schools) groups. The intervention group consisted of implementing a series of planned activities and measures of hand hygiene program over 9 months. Parameters of primary and secondary outcomes were estimated with generalized estimating equations. Results: There were no significant between-group differences in demographic characteristics. The knowledge scores in the intervention group were significantly higher than the scores in the control group, and the technique scores in the intervention group were significantly higher than the scores in the control group after baseline. Further, after the third month, the cleanliness scores in the intervention group were significantly higher than the scores in the control group. In addition, the number of sick leave days decreased in the intervention group. Conclusions: The impact of the school-based hand hygiene program was positive. It can be used in both the planning and development of a hand hygiene protocol to increase the handwashing compliance rate of schoolchildren and to reduce school absenteeism in developing countries.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 26 November 2019
Published date: 1 December 2019
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the research assistants for their help in collecting the data and conducting the training sessions on hand hygiene in the intervention schools. We would also like to thank Mr Stephen Kwok Wai Hang for his critical review and help with the statistical analysis. Last, we would like to thank the schoolchildren and school personnel staff of the 6 participating primary schools, as well as the parents and/or guardians of the participating schoolchildren.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
Keywords:
Developing countries, Handwashing compliance rate, Health policy, School absenteeism, Schoolchildren, Simplified handwashing procedure
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 475350
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/475350
ISSN: 0196-6553
PURE UUID: 99b426f1-5110-40d2-ae58-ed75b96cd710
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Date deposited: 15 Mar 2023 17:49
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:09
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Author:
Balwani Chingatichifwe Mbakaya
Author:
Paul Lee
Author:
Regina Lai Tong Lee
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