Do alcohol-based hand rubs reduce the incidence of acute diarrhea during military deployments? A prospective randomized trial.
Travel Med Infect Dis
; 15: 48-51, 2017.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27890664
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Acute diarrhea remains a public health concern in armed forces deployed in tropical areas where access to water and soap is limited. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHR) on incidence of diarrhea in poor hygiene conditions.METHOD:
A prospective randomized trial was conducted between November 2014 and January 2015 among French military troops deployed in Africa to compare a group of soldiers receiving usual hand hygiene recommendations (control group), to a group of soldiers who received ABHR in addition to usual hand hygiene recommendations (intervention group). Data on diarrhea and hygiene behaviors were collected using self-questionnaires. The incidence rate of diarrhea episodes in groups was compared.RESULTS:
Participation rate was 59% (236/400). The proportion of individuals who used ABHR was 97% in the intervention group and 62% in the control group. The overall incidence rate of diarrheal episodes was observed to be in the region of 60 per 100 persons-month without any significant difference between groups after adjustment on confounding factors (p = 0.93). Handwashing with soap was used on average 4 times a day in the control group and twice a day in the intervention group (p = 0.93). It was the only significant protective factor for diarrhea (p < 10-3).CONCLUSION:
Our results support that supplying soap and good quality water should be a priority on the field.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Viagem
/
Desinfecção das Mãos
/
Diarreia
/
Álcoois
/
Higiene das Mãos
/
Higienizadores de Mão
/
Militares
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Incidence_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Travel Med Infect Dis
Assunto da revista:
DOENCAS TRANSMISSIVEIS
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article