ArticlePloS one2014
Impact of the provision of safe drinking water on school absence rates in Cambodia: a quasi-experimental study.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools in Low-Income Countries: A Review of Evidence of Impact.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Effectiveness of the newly designed WASH implementation strategy on WASH practices, diarrheal diseases, respiratory illness, and absenteeism among ashram school children.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2025Article
- Evaluation of drinking water quality and health risk assessment in rural primary schools along the Thai Myanmar border.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Interventions promoting uptake of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) technologies in low- and middle-income countries: An evidence and gap map of effectiveness studies.Campbell systematic reviews · 2021Article
- The potential of school-based WASH programming to support children as agents of change in rural Zambian households.BMC public health · 2021Article
- The Impact of a School-Based Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program on Absenteeism, Diarrhea, and Respiratory Infection: A Matched-Control Trial in Mali.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2016Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEducation is one of the most important drivers behind helping people in developing countries lift themselves out of poverty. However, even when schooling is available absenteeism rates can be high. Recently interest has focussed on whether or not WASH interventions can help reduce absenteeism in developing countries. However, none has focused exclusively on the role of drinking water provision. We report a study of the association between absenteeism and provision of treated water in containers into schools. METHODS AND
findingsWe undertook a quasi-experimental longitudinal study of absenteeism rates in 8 schools, 4 of which received one 20 L container of treated drinking water per day. The water had been treated by filtration and ultraviolet disinfection. Weekly absenteeism rates were compared across all schools using negative binomial model in generalized estimating equations. There was a strong association with provision of free water and reduced absenteeism (Incidence rate ratio = 0.39 (95% Confidence Intervals 0.27-0.56)). However there was also a strong association with season (wet versus dry) and a significant interaction between receiving free water and season. In one of the intervention schools it was discovered that the water supplier was not fulfilling his contract and was not delivering sufficient water each week. In this school we showed a significant association between the number of water containers delivered each week and absenteeism (IRR = 0.98 95%CI 0.96-1.00).
conclusionThere appears to be a strong association between providing free safe drinking water and reduced absenteeism, though only in the dry season. The mechanism for this association is not clear but may in part be due to improved hydration leading to improved school experience for the children.
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Registered trials
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