Baseline Characteristics of a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial Targeting Hand Hygiene in Primary Healthcare in Burkina Faso and Mali.

Objectives: This study presents baseline characteristics of a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) on hand hygiene in primary healthcare in Burkina Faso and Mali, addressing data gaps on hand hygiene practices in these settings.

Methods: We implemented a two-arm cRCT in 48 primary healthcare facilities. Baseline data were collected (January-June 2023), followed by covariate-constrained randomization.

Measuring the frequency and determinants of COVID-19 prevention behaviours: a cross-sectional assessment of large-scale programmes in seven countries, late 2020.

Objectives: This multicountry analysis aimed to assess the prevalence of key hygiene prevention behaviours and their determinants, associated with international non-governmental organisation (WaterAid) hygiene behaviour change programmes for COVID-19 prevention. The goal of this analysis is to inform future outbreak preparedness and pandemic response in low and middle-income countries.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Assessing the Effectiveness of a Multicomponent Intervention on Hand Hygiene and Well-Being in Primary Health Care Centers and Schools Lacking Functional Water Supply in Protracted Conflict Settings: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Hand hygiene is crucial in health care centers and schools to avoid disease transmission. Currently, little is known about hand hygiene in such facilities in protracted conflict settings.

Objective: This protocol aims to assess the effectiveness of a multicomponent hand hygiene intervention on handwashing behavior, underlying behavioral factors, and the well-being of health care workers and students.

Gamifying quantitative face-to-face interviews in rural India: An empirical evaluation based on the basic psychological needs theory.

Objective: Standardized face-to-face interviews are widely used in low and middle-income countries to collect data for social science and health research. Such interviews can be long and tedious. In an attempt to improve the respondents' experience of interviews, we developed a concept of gamified interview format by including a game element.

Construction of a Low-cost Mobile Incubator for Field and Laboratory Use.

Incubators are essential for a range of culture-based microbial methods, such as membrane filtration followed by cultivation for assessing drinking water quality. However, commercially available incubators are often costly, difficult to transport, not flexible in terms of volume, and/or poorly adapted to local field conditions where access to electricity is unreliable. The purpose of this study was to develop an adaptable, low-cost and transportable incubator that can be constructed using readily available components.

Contamination across Multiple Environmental Compartments (Soil, Hands, Drinking Water, and Handwashing Water) in Urban Harare: Correlations and Risk Factors.

pathotypes (i.e., enteropathogenic and enterotoxigenic) have been identified among the pathogens most responsible for moderate-to-severe diarrhea in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Enhancing handwashing frequency and technique of primary caregivers in Harare, Zimbabwe: A cluster-randomized controlled trial using behavioral and microbial outcomes.

Rationale: Consistent hand hygiene prevents diarrheal and respiratory diseases, but it is often not practiced. The disease burden is highest in low-income settings, which need effective interventions to promote domestic handwashing. To date, most handwashing campaigns have focused on promoting frequent handwashing at key times, whereas specifically promoting handwashing techniques proven to be effective in removing microbes has been confined to healthcare settings.

Identifying behavioural determinants for interventions to increase handwashing practices among primary school children in rural Burundi and urban Zimbabwe.

Background: This article presents the development of a school handwashing programme in two different sub-Saharan countries that applies the RANAS (risk, attitudes, norms, ability, and self-regulation) systematic approach to behaviour change.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with 669 children enrolled in 20 primary schools in Burundi and 524 children in 20 primary schools in Zimbabwe. Regression analyses were used to assess the influence of the RANAS behavioural determinants on reported handwashing frequencies.

Contextual and Psychosocial Determinants of Effective Handwashing Technique: Recommendations for Interventions from a Case Study in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Handwashing has been shown to considerably reduce diarrhea morbidity and mortality. To decontaminate hands effectively, the use of running water, soap, and various scrubbing steps are recommended. This study aims to identify the behavioral determinants of effective handwashing.

Handwashing, but how? Microbial effectiveness of existing handwashing practices in high-density suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe.

Background: Consistent domestic hand hygiene can reduce diarrhea-related morbidity and mortality and the spread of other communicable diseases. However, it remains uncertain which technique of handwashing is most effective and practicable during everyday life. The goal of this study is to determine how the handwashing technique, as performed in the daily life by the participants of this case study in Harare, Zimbabwe, influences microbial handwashing effectiveness.