Major ArticlesThe effect of a comprehensive handwashing program on absenteeism in elementary schools*
Section snippets
Subjects
Five independent elementary schools in Pennsylvania were enrolled in the study. Written permission was obtained from the headmaster/headmistress at each school before student enrollment in the study. Each school was asked to provide 2 test and 2 control classrooms of the same grade. The median class size was 15 (range, 11-20 students). Three schools were coed, one was single sex (boys), and one was single sex (girls). Students in the test group received the intervention of education and hand
Two hundred and ninety students (145 controls and 145 tests)
Table 1 shows the number of episodes of absenteeism by school and month. Total episodes of absenteeism: control group = 277, test group = 140; % difference = 50.6% (P <.001).School Class size Grade March April May Control Test Control Test Control Test 1 17 1 5 9 5 4 0 3 18 3 6 3 7 2 5 1 2 15 Kindergarten A 7 2 14 1 23 3 20 Kindergarten C 14 5 7 8 19 10 3 13 Kindergarten 15 5 9 3 11 4 11 2 10 2 7 2 5 4 4 18 3 8 3 6 4 7 3 5 16 Kindergarten 10 16 25 10 15 8 17 2 8 6 16 10 13 9
Discussion
Schools, like hospitals, have significant predisposing factors for the transmission of micro-organisms and cross-contamination, such as a close environment, inanimate objects serving as vehicles of transmission, and often inadequate supplies for handwashing. The number of lost school days annually among kindergarten through twelfth-grade students is 164 million, with an average of 4.5 days a year per student.10 A report by the Carnegie Foundation11 for education noted that 83% of teachers think
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the headmasters and headmistresses of each school, teachers, and students who participated in the study. We also thank Richard Waterman, PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, for assistance with data analysis and Lois Porten in helping prepare the manuscript. In addition, the authors thank GOJO Industries for supplying the educational materials and hand sanitizer for the study.
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Co-benefits from health and health systems to education
2024, Health PolicyA program to improve the hand hygiene compliance of Hong Kong preschoolers with an insight into their absenteeism
2019, American Journal of Infection ControlCitation Excerpt :The results from the survey indicated that both the childrens’ and their parents’ awareness of good health behaviors and habits had been raised. In the studies of Talaat18 and Guinan,9 absenteeism decreased, but they did not mention if there was any outbreak of influenza during the research period. It was therefore unclear whether the decrease of absenteeism was owing to reduced incidence of influenza at the time of these studies.
The effect of hand-hygiene interventions on infectious disease-associated absenteeism in elementary schools: A systematic literature review
2017, American Journal of Infection ControlCitation Excerpt :Five studies reported the effect of ABHR use coupled with education.20,24,25,31,36 Similar to the above results regarding ABHR use alone, 3 of 5 studies reported reductions in combined illness-related absenteeism in the intervention group versus the comparison group, ranging from 22.6%-50.6% (P < .05).24,25,31 One reported a 29.5% reduction in AGI-associated absenteeism (P < .001),36 whereas the remaining study20 did not detect a significant reduction in ARI-associated absenteeism between the intervention and comparison groups.
The Effect of Primary School Education on Preventive Behaviours during COVID-19 in Japan
2023, Sustainability (Switzerland)Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses
2023, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
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