The effect of school based hygiene and handwashing programme for classroom environment and student health which was given for 4th grade primary school students and staff in a rural area: randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of a school-based hygiene and hand washing program on classroom environment hygiene and student health, given to primary school 4th grade students and school staff in a rural area. MATHERIAL AND METHOD: The study was carried out in four primary schools in Sakarya province Karapurcek rural area in a randomized controlled manner. The sample group consisted of 4th grade students and cleaning staff in these schools (n=129). The personal hygiene and hand washing information questionnaire was applied as a pre-test and post-test to the experiment 1, experiment 2 (only student training), experiment 3 (only staff training) groups which were applied the hygiene and hand washing program and the control group without training. The effectiveness of the surface cleaning training given to cleaning personals was visualized with a paint showing fluorescent properties in ultraviolet light and a fluorescent light. In each school, pre-determined surfaces were photographed at the beginning and end of the study and evaluated. In order to evaluate the personal hygiene status of the students and the effect of surface cleaning on students' health, the parents filled out a disease information form before and after the study. Data were evaluated using the SPSS 25.0 package program. RESULTS: It was determined that the selected sample groups were sociodemographically similar and homogeneous. While the personal hygiene status of the students in the experimental group improved significantly after the training, there was no significant change in the control group in general. The rate of clean surfaces in the experiment 1 group school, where students and staff are trained, is from 40% to 60% after training; experiment 3 group increased from 40% to 70%. The ratio of clean surfaces decreased in experiment 2 and control group schools. After the training, there was no significant difference in the rate of febrile illness and related absenteeism among the experimental groups, while the health level of the control group was significantly lower than the experimental group (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: The hygiene and hand washing program applied to primary school 4th grade students is significantly positively related to the personal hygiene status of the students and student health. There is a significant positive relationship between the training given to the personnel and surface cleaning. The level of relationship between staff education and student health was not found to be significant. Personal hygiene education should be given to students in primary school. Staff training should be provided as surface cleaning is related to school hygiene, but further studies were needed in this area. Keywords: hygiene, education, primary school, cleanliness, surface.