ArticleBMJ open2023
Recommendations for hand hygiene in community settings: a scoping review of current international guidelines.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 5 of them syntheses 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.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Minimum material requirements for hand hygiene in community settings: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Behavioural factors influencing hand hygiene practices across domestic, institutional and public community settings: a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of measures taken by governments to support hand hygiene in community settings: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions to improve hand hygiene in community settings: a systematic review of theories, barriers and enablers, behaviour change techniques and hand hygiene station design features.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and effectiveness of hand hygiene-related practices used in community settings for removal of organisms from hands: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Acceptability of alcohol-based hand rub during neonatal care in rural Ugandan households: a qualitative study nested within the BabyGel trial.Global health action · 2026Trial
- Article
- Mapping policy gaps and governance challenges in Kenya's hand hygiene environment: a health policy triangle analysis.Health policy and planning · 2026Article
- Global landscape of locally produced alcohol-based handrub in health care settings: a scoping review.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2026Article
- Replacing Text with Pictures for Multi-Lingual Health Education: Meeting the Needs of a Community with Low Literacy in Tanzania.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Determinants of access to basic handwashing facilities and handwashing with soap in low-income areas of four Kenyan cities.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Bacterial contamination of mobile handwashing stations in hospital settings in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2024Article
- Assessment of handwashing impact on detection of SARS-CoV-2, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli on hands in rural and urban settings of Côte d'Ivoire during COVID-19 pandemic.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Digital health literacy, behavior and knowledge of adolescents for hand hygiene during the COVID-19 pandemic.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2024Article
- Equivalent reduction of Escherichia coli by rinsing hands with cold and warm water.GMS hygiene and infection control · 2024Article
- Hand and Oral Hygiene Practices of South Korean Adolescents Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Article
- How can global guidelines support sustainable hygiene systems?BMJ global health · 2023Article
- Recommendations for hand hygiene in community settings: a scoping review of current international guidelines.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Handwashing among caregivers of young children in a protracted and complex refugee and immigration context: a mixed methods study on the Thai-Myanmar border.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHand hygiene is an important measure to prevent disease transmission.
objectiveTo summarise current international guideline recommendations for hand hygiene in community settings and to assess to what extent they are consistent and evidence based. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: We included international guidelines with one or more recommendations on hand hygiene in community settings-categorised as domestic, public or institutional-published by international organisations, in English or French, between 1 January 1990 and 15 November 2021. DATA SOURCES: To identify relevant guidelines, we searched the WHO Institutional Repository for Information Sharing Database, Google, websites of international organisations, and contacted expert organisations and individuals. CHARTING
methodsRecommendations were mapped to four areas related to hand hygiene: (1) effective hand hygiene; (2) minimum requirements; (3) behaviour change and (4) government measures. Recommendations were assessed for consistency, concordance and whether supported by evidence.
resultsWe identified 51 guidelines containing 923 recommendations published between 1999 and 2021 by multilateral agencies and international non-governmental organisations. Handwashing with soap is consistently recommended as the preferred method for hand hygiene across all community settings. Most guidelines specifically recommend handwashing with plain soap and running water for at least 20 s; single-use paper towels for hand drying; and alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) as a complement or alternative to handwashing. There are inconsistent and discordant recommendations for water quality for handwashing, affordable and effective alternatives to soap and ABHR, and the design of handwashing stations. There are gaps in recommendations on soap and water quantity, behaviour change approaches and government measures required for effective hand hygiene. Less than 10% of recommendations are supported by any cited evidence.
conclusionWhile current international guidelines consistently recommend handwashing with soap across community settings, there remain gaps in recommendations where clear evidence-based guidance might support more effective policy and investment.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.