Washing with hope: evidence of improved handwashing among children in South Africa from a pilot study of a novel soap technology

Burns, Justine; Maughan-Brown, Brendan; Mouzinho, Âurea

doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5573-8

Table 1 Baseline summary statistics: households and caregivers

From: Washing with hope: evidence of improved handwashing among children in South Africa from a pilot study of a novel soap technology

	Full sample			Treatment		Control		Treatment-Control
	n	Mean	SD	n	Mean	n	Mean	Difference	p-value
Household Characteristics
Number of members	229	6.47	2.64	123	6.42	106	6.52	−0.10	0.799
Number of children (2 to 10 yrs. old)	229	2.27	1.22	123	2.19	106	2.36	−0.17	0.324
Race of household head: Coloured^a	219	0.82	0.38	120	0.83	99	0.82	0.01	0.900
Household head: completed grade 12	189	0.14	0.35	105	0.13	84	0.14	−0.01	0.855
Any member receives a govt. grant	229	0.89	0.31	123	0.92	106	0.86	0.06	0.151
Asset index (0–20)	223	9.16	3.15	121	9.13	102	9.19	−0.05	0.906
Monthly household income <R2000	214	0.41	0.49	113	0.42	101	0.40	0.02	0.779
Piped water in house	228	0.79	0.41	123	0.73	105	0.85	−0.12	0.041
Toilet in house	226	0.87	0.34	122	0.84	104	0.90	−0.06	0.196
Household limits water use^b	214	0.44	0.50	110	0.50	104	0.39	0.12	0.096
Hygiene & health
Household uses bar soap	226	0.93	0.26	121	0.93	105	0.92	0.00	0.962
Soap always available (self-report)	226	0.72	0.45	121	0.73	105	0.71	0.02	0.716
Soap observed in house by fieldworker	198	0.61	0.49	104	0.56	94	0.66	−0.10	0.156
Household limits handwashing^c	228	0.18	0.38	123	0.17	105	0.19	−0.02	0.701
Any household member ill in past 2 weeks	229	0.65	0.48	123	0.62	106	0.68	−0.06	0.354
Any child ill in past 2 weeks	229	0.42	0.49	123	0.38	106	0.46	−0.08	0.248
Caregiver characteristics
FIF Programme participant > 3 months^d	222	0.62	0.49	120	0.58	102	0.67	−0.08	0.215
Received hygiene training in past 3 months	220	0.61	0.49	119	0.56	101	0.65	−0.09	0.183
Reported handwashing prevents diarrhoea^e	229	0.61	0.49	123	0.60	106	0.61	−0.01	0.862
Handwashing technique knowledge (0–40)^f	226	32.40	7.33	121	32.11	105	32.73	−0.63	0.517
Washes hands before cooking & eating	229	0.78	0.42	123	0.79	106	0.76	0.02	0.659
Always uses soap to wash hands	228	0.80	0.40	123	0.80	105	0.80	0.00	0.950
Health never affects activities	228	0.57	0.50	122	0.53	106	0.60	−0.07	0.278
Depressed/anxious 3+ days in past week	229	0.56	0.50	123	0.60	106	0.51	0.09	0.155

SD Standard deviation
^a‘Coloured’ is a commonly used racial classification in South Africa, which describes an individual of mixed-race ancestry
^bCaregivers were asked ‘Can this household afford to use as much water as it needs every month, or do you have to limit your usage in any way?’
^cCaregivers were asked whether their household limits handwashing to limit the amount of water used
^dThis indicator represents caregivers who had been participating in the Family-in-Focus (FIF) programme for more than three months
^eCaregivers were asked the open-ended question: ‘How do you think diarrhoea can be prevented?’
^fUsing a scale of 1 to 10 (1: not important, 10: very important) caregivers were asked the importance of four activities during handwashing: using soap, using warm water, rubbing hands together, lathering soap. The four responses were summed

Back to article page

ISSN: 1471-2458

Contact us

Submission enquiries: bmcpublichealth@biomedcentral.com
General enquiries: ORSupport@springernature.com

BMC Public Health

Contact us