Trial reportBulletin of the World Health Organization2021
Changing hygiene behaviours: a cluster-randomized trial, Ethiopia.
Trial report in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Community-level trachoma ecological associations and the use of geospatial analysis methods: A systematic review.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of water, sanitation, and hygiene on childhood growth in Ethiopia: a cluster-randomized trial.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2026Trial
- Water, sanitation, and hygiene for control of trachoma in Ethiopia (WUHA): a two-arm, parallel-group, cluster-randomised trial.The Lancet. Global health · 2022Trial
- Changing hygiene behaviours: a cluster-randomized trial, Ethiopia.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2021Trial
- Strategies to promote uptake and sustainability of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions in basic education institutions in conflict settings: a scoping review of the Horn of Africa.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Comparison of metrics for assessing face washing behaviour for trachoma control.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Hygiene and the Prevention of Trachoma in the Indigenous Population of the Colombian Amazon Vaupés Department.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Evaluations of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions should not use diarrhoea as (primary) outcome.BMJ global health · 2022Review
- Harnessing the power of behavioural science to improve health.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether a water, sanitation and hygiene intervention could change hygiene behaviours thought to be important for trachoma control.
methodsWe conducted a cluster-randomized trial in rural Ethiopia from 9 November 2015 to 5 March 2019. We randomized 20 clusters to an intervention consisting of water and sanitation infrastructure and hygiene promotion and 20 clusters to no intervention. All intervention clusters received a primary-school hygiene curriculum, community water point, household wash station, household soap and home visits from hygiene promotion workers. We assessed intervention fidelity through annual household surveys.
findingsOver the 3 years, more wash stations, soap and latrines were seen at households in the intervention clusters than the control clusters: risk difference 47 percentage points (95% confidence interval, CI: 41-53) for wash stations, 18 percentage points (95% CI: 12-24) for soap and 12 percentage points (95% CI: 5-19) for latrines. A greater proportion of people in intervention clusters reported washing their faces with soap (e.g. risk difference 21 percentage points; 95% CI: 15-27 for 0-5 year-old children) and using a latrine (e.g. risk difference 9 percentage points; 95% CI: 2-15 for 6-9 year-old children). Differences between the intervention and control arms were not statistically significant for many indicators until the programme had been implemented for at least a year; they did not decline during later study visits.
conclusionThe community- and school-based intervention was associated with improved hygiene access and behaviours, although changes in behaviour were slow and required several years of the intervention.
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