Dataset Information

Reduction in the incidence of influenza A but not influenza B associated with use of hand sanitizer and cough hygiene in schools: a randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT: Laboratory-based evidence is lacking regarding the efficacy of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as alcohol-based hand sanitizer and respiratory hygiene to reduce the spread of influenza.The Pittsburgh Influenza Prevention Project was a cluster-randomized trial conducted in 10 elementary schools in Pittsburgh, PA, during the 2007 to 2008 influenza season. Children in 5 intervention schools received training in hand and respiratory hygiene, and were provided and encouraged to use hand sanitizer regularly. Children in 5 schools acted as controls. Children with influenza-like illness were tested for influenza A and B by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.A total of 3360 children participated in this study. Using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, 54 cases of influenza A and 50 cases of influenza B were detected. We found no significant effect of the intervention on the primary study outcome of all laboratory-confirmed influenza cases (incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.54, 1.23). However, we did find statistically significant differences in protocol-specified ancillary outcomes. Children in intervention schools had significantly fewer laboratory-confirmed influenza A infections than children in control schools, with an adjusted IRR of 0.48 (95% CI: 0.26, 0.87). Total absent episodes were also significantly lower among the intervention group than among the control group; adjusted IRR 0.74 (95% CI: 0.56, 0.97).NPIs (respiratory hygiene education and the regular use of hand sanitizer) did not reduce total laboratory-confirmed influenza. However, the interventions did reduce school total absence episodes by 26% and laboratory-confirmed influenza A infections by 52%. Our results suggest that NPIs can be an important adjunct to influenza vaccination programs to reduce the number of influenza A infections among children.

SUBMITTER: Stebbins S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3470868 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Reduction in the incidence of influenza A but not influenza B associated with use of hand sanitizer and cough hygiene in schools: a randomized controlled trial.

Stebbins Samuel S Cummings Derek A T DA Stark James H JH Vukotich Chuck C Mitruka Kiren K Thompson William W Rinaldo Charles C Roth Loren L Wagner Michael M Wisniewski Stephen R SR Dato Virginia V Eng Heather H Burke Donald S DS

The Pediatric infectious disease journal 20111101 11

<h4>Background</h4>Laboratory-based evidence is lacking regarding the efficacy of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as alcohol-based hand sanitizer and respiratory hygiene to reduce the spread of influenza.<h4>Methods</h4>The Pittsburgh Influenza Prevention Project was a cluster-randomized trial conducted in 10 elementary schools in Pittsburgh, PA, during the 2007 to 2008 influenza season. Children in 5 intervention schools received training in hand and respiratory hygiene, and were pr ...[more]

PMID: 21691245

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Project description:BACKGROUND:To evaluate the effectiveness of a brief mindfulness intervention on hand hygiene performance and mindful attention for inpatient physician teams. DESIGN:A pilot, pre-test/post-test randomised controlled mixed methods trial. SETTING:One academic medical centre in the USA. PARTICIPANTS:Four internal medicine physician teams consisting of one attending, one resident, two to three interns and up to four medical students. INTERVENTION:A facilitated, group-based educational discussion on how mindfulness, as practised through mindful hand hygiene, may improve clinical care and practices in the hospital setting. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:The primary outcome was hand hygiene adherence (percentage) for each patient encounter. Other outcomes were observable mindful moments and mindful attention, measured using the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale, from baseline to post-intervention, and qualitative evaluation of the intervention. RESULTS:For attending physicians, hand hygiene adherence increased 14.1% in the intervention group compared with a decrease of 5.7% in the controls (P=0.035). For residents, the comparable figures were 24.7% (intervention) versus 0.2% (control) (P=0.064). For interns, adherence increased 10.0% with the intervention versus 4.2% in the controls (P=0.007). For medical students, adherence improved more in the control group (4.7% intervention vs 7.7% controls; P=0.003). An increase in mindfulness behaviours was observed for the intervention group (3.7%) versus controls (0.9%) (P=0.021). Self-reported mindful attention did not change (P=0.865). CONCLUSIONS:A brief, education-based mindfulness intervention improved hand hygiene in attending physicians and residents, but not in medical students. The intervention was well-received, increased mindfulness practice, and appears to be a feasible way to introduce mindfulness in the clinical setting. Future work instructing clinicians in mindfulness to improve hand hygiene may prove valuable. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:NCT 03165799; Results.

Project description:The German "Clean Hands Campaign" (an adaptation of the WHO "Clean Care is Safer Care" programme) to promote hand hygiene among hospital personnel at Hannover Medical School (MHH, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover), known as Aktion Saubere Hände (ASH), met with initial success. By 2013, however, compliance rates with hygienic hand disinfection in the hospital's ten intensive care units (ICUs) and two hematopoietic stem cell transplantation units (HSCTUs) had relapsed to their initial levels (physicians: 48%; nurses: 56%). The cluster- randomized controlled trial PSYGIENE was conducted to investigate whether interventions tai - lored in ways suggested by research in behavioral psychology might bring about more sustainable improvements than the ASH.The "Health Action Process Approach" (HAPA) compliance model specifies key psychological determinants of compliance. These determinants were assessed among health care workers in the ICUs and HSCTUs of the MHH by questionnaire (response rates: physicians: 71%; nurses: 63%) and by interviews of the responsible ward physicians and head nurses (100%). In 2013, 29 tailored behavior change techniques were implemented in educational training sessions and feedback discussions in the six wards that constituted the intervention arm of the trial, while ASH training sessions were provided in the control arm. The compliance rates for 2014 and 2015 (the primary outcomes of the trial) were determined by nonparticipating observation of hygienic hand disinfection, in accordance with the World Health Organization's gold standard.The two groups did not differ in their baseline compliance rates in 2013 (intervention: 54%, control: 55%, p = 0.581). The tailored interventions led to increased compliance in each of the two follow-up years (2014: 64%, p<0.001; 2015: 70%, p = 0.001), while the compliance in the control arm increased to 68% in 2014 (p<0.001) but fell back to 64% in 2015 (p = 0.007). The compliance increases from 2013-2015 and the compliance rate in 2015 were higher in the intervention arm (p<0.005). This was mainly attributable to the nurses' behavior, as the corresponding parameters for physicians did not differ significantly between the two study arms in stratified analysis.Tailored interventions based on behavioral psychology principles led to more sustainable increases in compliance with hand hygiene guidelines than ASH training sessions did. This was true among nurses, and thus also for hospital ward personnel as a whole (i.e., nurses and physicians combined). Further studies are needed to identify more target group-specific interventions that may improve compliance among physicians.

Project description:BackgroundImproving hand hygiene in hospitals is the most efficient method to prevent healthcare-associated infections. The hand hygiene behavior of hospital patients and visitors is not well-researched, although they pose a risk for the transmission of pathogens. Therefore, the present study had three aims: (1) Finding a suitable theoretical model to explain patients' and visitors' hand hygiene practice; (2) Identifying important predictors for their hand hygiene behavior; and (3) Comparing the essential determinants of hand hygiene behavior between healthcare professionals from the literature to our non-professional sample.MethodsIn total N = 1,605 patients and visitors were surveyed on their hand hygiene practice in hospitals. The employed questionnaires were based on three theoretical models: a) the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB); b) the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA); and c) the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. To compare our results to the determinants of healthcare workers' hand hygiene behavior, we searched for studies that used one of the three theoretical models.ResultsAmong patients, 52% of the variance in the hand hygiene behavior was accounted for by the TDF domains, 44% by a modified HAPA model, and 40% by the TPB factors. Among visitors, these figures were 59%, 37%, and 55%, respectively. Two clusters of variables surfaced as being essential determinants of behavior: self-regulatory processes and social influence processes. The critical determinants for healthcare professionals' hand hygiene reported in the literature were similar to the findings from our non-professional sample.ConclusionsThe TDF was identified as the most suitable model to explain patients' and visitors' hand hygiene practices. Patients and visitors should be included in existing behavior change intervention strategies. Newly planned interventions should focus on targeting self-regulatory and social influence processes to improve effectiveness.

Dataset Information

Reduction in the incidence of influenza A but not influenza B associated with use of hand sanitizer and cough hygiene in schools: a randomized controlled trial.

Publications

Reduction in the incidence of influenza A but not influenza B associated with use of hand sanitizer and cough hygiene in schools: a randomized controlled trial.

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