title: Psychosocial Factors Mediating the Effect of the CHoBI7 Intervention on Handwashing With Soap: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
abstract: Inadequate hand hygiene is estimated to result in nearly 300,000 deaths annually, with the majority of deaths being among children younger than 5 years. In an effort to promote handwashing with soap and water treatment behaviors among highly susceptible household members of cholera patients, we recently developed the Cholera-Hospital-Based Intervention-for-7-Days (CHoBI7); chobi means picture in Bengali. This 1-week handwashing with soap and water treatment intervention is delivered by a promoter in the hospital and the home to cholera patients and their household members. In our randomized controlled trial of this intervention, we observed a significant reduction in symptomatic cholera infections during the 1-week intervention period compared to the control arm and sustained high uptake of observed handwashing with soap behaviors up to 12 months postintervention. The aim of the present study was to assess the underlying mechanism of change that led to the high handwashing with soap behavior observed among participants who received the CHoBI7 intervention. Handwashing with soap was measured using 5-hour structured observation, and psychosocial factors were assessed using a structured questionnaire among 170 intervention and 174 control household members enrolled in the CHoBI7 trial. To investigate potential mediators of the CHoBI7 intervention effect, mediation models were performed. Response efficacy was found to mediate the intervention's effect on habit formation for handwashing with soap at the 1-week follow-up, and disgust, convenience, and cholera awareness were mediators of habit maintenance at the 6- to 12-month follow-up. These results support the use of theory-driven approaches for the development and implementation of handwashing with soap interventions.
authors.affiliation: 1 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Christine Marie
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: 2 International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Shwapon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: 1 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: 1 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Perin
authors.affiliation: 2 International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Tahmina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Parvin
authors.affiliation: 2 International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Shirajum
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monira
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Saif-Ur-Rahman
authors.affiliation: 2 International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Mahamud-Ur
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Rashid
authors.affiliation: 2 International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Sazzadul Islam
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Bhuyian
authors.affiliation: 1 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: 3 University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dreibelbis
authors.affiliation: 2 International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Farzana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Begum
authors.affiliation: 2 International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Fatema
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zohura
authors.affiliation: 1 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaotong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Sack
authors.affiliation: 2 International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Munirul
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.affiliation: 1 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: R Bradley
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Sack
authors.affiliation: 1 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Elli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leontsini
authors.affiliation: 1 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Winch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D002771:Cholera / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006235:Hand Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012915:Soaps; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D012915:Soaps
keywords: Bangladesh; behavioral interventions; behavioral theories; diarrhea disease; handwashing with soap; mediation analysis; randomized controlled trial