Assessing the impact of a school-based latrine cleaning and handwashing program on pupil absence in Nyanza Province, Kenya: a cluster-randomized trial.

Objectives: Improving school water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions reduces pupil absence and illness. However, these benefits may depend on the conditions of the latrines and availability of consumables. We sought to determine whether a low-cost, policy-relevant, environmental-level latrine cleaning intervention could improve latrine cleanliness, increase its use and reduce absenteeism.

A cluster-randomized trial assessing the impact of school water, sanitation, and hygiene improvements on pupil enrollment and gender parity in enrollment.

We employed a cluster randomized trial design to measure the impact of a school based water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) improvement on pupil enrollment and on gender parity in enrollment, in primary schools in Nyanza Province, Kenya (2007-2009). Among schools with poor water access during the dry season, those that received a water supply, hygiene promotion and water treatment (HP&WT) and sanitation improvement, demonstrated increased enrollment (β=0.091 [0.

The impact of school water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions on the health of younger siblings of pupils: a cluster-randomized trial in Kenya.

Objectives: We examined the impact of school water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions on diarrhea-related outcomes among younger siblings of school-going children.

Methods: We conducted a cluster-randomized trial among 185 schools in Kenya from 2007 to 2009. We assigned schools to 1 of 2 study groups according to water availability.

Impact of regular soap provision to primary schools on hand washing and E. coli hand contamination among pupils in Nyanza Province, Kenya: a cluster-randomized trial.

We assessed whether supplying soap to primary schools on a regular basis increased pupil hand washing and decreased Escherichia coli hand contamination. Multiple rounds of structured observations of hand washing events after latrine use were conducted in 60 Kenyan schools, and hand rinse samples were collected one time in a subset of schools. The proportion of pupils observed practicing hand washing with soap (HWWS) events was significantly higher in schools that received a soap provision intervention (32%) and schools that received soap and latrine cleaning materials (38%) compared with controls (3%).

Impact of a school-based hygiene promotion and sanitation intervention on pupil hand contamination in Western Kenya: a cluster randomized trial.

Handwashing with soap effectively reduces exposure to diarrhea-causing pathogens. Interventions to improve hygiene and sanitation conditions in schools within low-income countries have gained increased attention; however, their impact on schoolchildren's exposure to fecal pathogens has not been established. Our trial examined whether a school-based water, sanitation, and hygiene intervention reduced Escherichia coli contamination on pupils' hands in western Kenya.

Assessing the impact of a school-based water treatment, hygiene and sanitation programme on pupil absence in Nyanza Province, Kenya: a cluster-randomized trial.

Objectives: There has been increased attention to access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) at schools in developing countries, but a dearth of empirical studies on the impact. We conducted a cluster-randomized trial of school-based WASH on pupil absence in Nyanza Province, Kenya, from 2007 to 2008.

Methods: Public primary schools nested in three geographical strata were randomly assigned and allocated to one of three study arms [water treatment and hygiene promotion (WT & HP), additional sanitation improvement, or control] to assess the effects on pupil absence at 2-year follow-up.