A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Improving hand hygiene of young children with a digital intervention: a cluster-randomised controlled field trial
Authors: Graichen Joanna, Stingl Carlo, Pakarinen Anni, Rosio Riitta, Terho Kirsi, Günther Sebastian A., Salanterä Sanna, Staake Thorsten
Publisher: Springer Nature
Publication year: 2024
Journal: Scientific Reports
Journal name in source: Scientific reports
Journal acronym: Sci Rep
Article number: 6157
Volume: 14
Issue: 1
ISSN: 2045-2322
eISSN: 2045-2322
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-56233-9
Web address : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-56233-9
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/387330292
Contagious diseases that affect young children place a great burden on them and their families. Proper hand hygiene is an important measure to reduce the disease burden, however, its implementation in day care centres is challenging. This paper introduces a digital intervention to support independent and good handwashing among young children. The intervention leverages animated instructions triggered by water and soap use, together with a symbolic reward shown to children on a screen during and immediately after handwashing. We tested the intervention in a pre-registered, cluster-randomised controlled field trial in 4 day care centres in Finland and Germany with 162 children over 42 days. The intervention increased soaping time, used as a proxy for handwashing quality, by 5.30 s (+ 62%, p < 0.001). The effect occurs immediately at the onset of the intervention and is maintained throughout the intervention phase.
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