Experimental pretesting of hand-washing interventions in a natural setting.
OBJECTIVE
We pretested interventions derived from different domains of behavior change theory to determine their effectiveness at increasing hand washing with soap in a natural setting.


METHODS
We installed wireless devices in highway service station restrooms to record entry and soap use. Two text-only messages for each of 7 psychological domains were compared for their effect on soap-use rates. We collected data on nearly 200 000 restroom uses.


RESULTS
The knowledge activation domain was most effective for women, with a relative increase in soap use of 9.4% compared with the control condition (P = .001). For men, disgust was the most effective, increasing soap use by 9.8% (P = .001). Disgust was not significantly better than the control condition for women, nor was knowledge activation for men. Messages based on social norms and social status were effective for both genders.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data show that unobtrusive observation of behavior in a natural setting can help identify the most effective interventions for changing behaviors of public health importance. The gender differences we found suggest that public health interventions should target men and women differently.
Judah
Gaby
G
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel St, London WC1E 7HT, UK. gaby.judah@lshtm.ac.uk
Aunger
Robert
R
Schmidt
Wolf-Peter
WP
Michie
Susan
S
Granger
Stewart
S
Curtis
Val
V
D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D040241:Social Marketing; D014038:Toilet Facilities