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Updated: Apr 16, 2026
A Method to Test the Efficacy of Handwashing for the Removal of Emerging Infectious Pathogens
Published on: June 7, 2017
Outcomes of a pilot hand hygiene randomized cluster trial to reduce communicable infections among US office-based
Maggie Stedman-Smith1, Cathy L Z DuBois, Scott F Grey
1From the College of Public Health (Dr Stedman-Smith, Ms Kingsbury, Ms Shakya, Mr Slenkovich), and College of Business Administration (Dr DuBois), Kent State University, Ohio; Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology (Dr Grey), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Cuyahoga County Government (Ms Scofield), Cleveland, Ohio.
Objective:
To determine the effectiveness of an office-based multimodal hand hygiene improvement intervention in reducing self-reported communicable infections and work-related absence.
Methods:
A randomized cluster trial including an electronic training video, hand sanitizer, and educational posters (n = 131, intervention; n = 193, control). Primary outcomes include (1) self-reported acute respiratory infections (ARIs)/influenza-like illness (ILI) and/or gastrointestinal (GI) infections during the prior 30 days; and (2) related lost work days. Incidence rate ratios calculated using generalized linear mixed models with a Poisson distribution, adjusted for confounders and random cluster effects.
Results:
A 31% relative reduction in self-reported combined ARI-ILI/GI infections (incidence rate ratio: 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.49 to 0.98). A 21% nonsignificant relative reduction in lost work days.
Conclusions:
An office-based multimodal hand hygiene improvement intervention demonstrated a substantive reduction in self-reported combined ARI-ILI/GI infections.
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