Intervention to Change Handwashing Behaviour in India

NCT04929860 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: WT-001
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,747
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The research will test the hypothesis that a scalable behaviour change intervention can improve hand-washing practices in rural Indian households. The intervention will be designed using a social marketing approach and will use motivational messages targeting key audiences rather than educational messages about germs and disease which previously have been found ineffective. The intervention will be designed for low-cost, scaleable delivery using a series of visits to target villages by a two-person team on a motorbike. The key goal of the study is to determine the effectiveness of a scaleable, social marketing intervention to promote hand-washing with soap. The study will take the form of a cluster-randomized, controlled intervention trial. Villages will be randomized to receive either the intervention or no intervention. The primary outcome measure will be the proportion of key events (defecation, faecal contact or food handling) accompanied by hand-washing with soap. These data will be collected by direct observation. A secondary outcome measure will be the number of soap movement episodes. These data will be collected in a sub-sample of households by using electronic motion detectors embedded in bars of soap. Additionally, questionnaires will be used to collect data on social norms, self-reported soap use and habitual soap use. All data will be collected pre and post-intervention.

Conditions

Hygiene; Handwashing; Behaviour

Keywords

diarrhoea; handwashing; hygiene

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Handwashing with soap directly observed

  cross sectional survey using direct observation of householders by local study staff

  one months after interventions is terminated

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Soap use measured by motion detectors embedded in soap bars

  soap movements over one week one month after assessment of the primary outcome

Study Arms (2)

handwashing

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

This arm receives a scalable social marketing campaign using innovative behaviour change approaches to improve handwashing. The intervention is delivered by a commercial social marketing business unrelated to the investigating organisations

Behavioral: social marketing campaign

control

NO INTERVENTION

Interventions

social marketing campaign BEHAVIORAL

social marketing campaign delivered over 4 weeks in 4 separate sessions

handwashing

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• households with children of primary school age or younger

You may not qualify if:

• households without school-aged or younger children

Sponsors & Collaborators

• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine: lead
• St. John's Research Institute: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

St. John's Research Institute

Palamener, Andhra Pradesh, India

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Behavior; Diarrhea

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 10, 2021
• First Posted: June 18, 2021
• Study Start: July 1, 2011
• Primary Completion: February 1, 2012
• Study Completion: April 1, 2012
• Last Updated: June 18, 2021

Record last verified: 2011-06

Locations

IN (1)