Evaluation of a Handwashing Promotion Program in Chinese Elementary Schools

• Sponsor: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. Fed)
• Overall Status: Completed
• CT.gov ID: NCT00140335
• Collaborator: Procter and Gamble (Industry), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, China (Other), Fujian Province CDC (Other)
• Enrollment: 5,000
• Location: 1
• Duration (Months): 6
• Patients Per Site Per Month: 836.2

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of a commercial hand washing promotion program on hygiene knowledge, attitudes, and practices, and on health outcomes such as reported infectious illnesses and school absences.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Communicable Diseases	Behavioral: handwashing	Phase 4

Detailed Description

Diarrheal and respiratory diseases cause 3.8 million deaths annually among children in the developing world. Reduced rates of these diseases have been measured during intensive, home-based handwashing interventions. We evaluated a school-based handwashing program for 1st grade students to determine whether a more scalable intervention could also reduce illness rates, and impact hygiene knowledge and attitudes.

Thirty schools from each of 3 counties in Fujian Province, China, were randomized to one of the following groups: a) control; b) standard intervention, which included a handwashing program (1 hour of hygiene instruction and 1 soap sample kit per pupil); or c) expanded intervention, which included the handwashing program, soap for school sinks and 1 peer hygiene monitor per class. Teachers collected illness symptom information from students weekly and recorded student absences daily between January and April, 2005. Mean illness and absence rates were calculated for each school. Students were given a knowledge, attitudes, and practices questionnaire before the intervention and again 5 months later.

Study Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Allocation: Randomized
• Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)
• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Official Title: Evaluation of a Handwashing Promotion Program in Chinese Elementary Schools
• Study Start Date: Dec 1, 2004
• Actual Primary Completion Date: Jun 1, 2005
• Actual Study Completion Date: Jun 1, 2005

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

1. student illness rates []

2. student absence rates []

Secondary Outcome Measures

1. teacher illness rate []

2. changes in student hygiene knowledge []

3. changes in student hygiene attitudes []

4. changes in school water use []

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 4 Years to 12 Years
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

• school has running water

Exclusion Criteria:

• school has not previously received commercial handwashing promotion program

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	Fujian Province CDC	Fuzhou	Fujian	China	350001

Sponsors and Collaborators

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Procter and Gamble
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, China
• Fujian Province CDC

Investigators

• Study Director: Anna B Bowen, MD, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00140335
• Other Study ID Numbers: CDC-NCID-4427
• First Posted: Sep 1, 2005
• Last Update Posted: Mar 9, 2010
• Last Verified: Mar 1, 2010

• Keywords provided by , ,: handwashing; communicable diseases; health education
• Additional relevant MeSH terms: Communicable Diseases; Infections

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Mar 9, 2010