Simplifying the World Health Organization (WHO) Protocol for Hand Hygiene

Simplifying the WHO Protocol for Hand Hygiene: Three Steps and 15 Seconds - a Randomized Cross-over Trial

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT03588221

Acronym

SIHAG

Enrollment

Registered

2018-07-17

Start date

2018-07-16

Completion date

2018-12-31

Last updated

2019-01-09

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Hand Hygiene

Brief summary

Non-inferiority in terms of reduction of bacterial counts will be investigated when combining the simpler three-step hand hygiene technique for the use of hand rub with a shorter application time of 15 seconds compared to the to the three steps technique with an application time of 30 seconds and the technique consisting in six steps.

Interventions

PROCEDUREfour sets of hand hygiene measurements per participant

1. Six-step hand hygiene technique with an application time of 30 seconds 2. Six-step hand hygiene technique with an application time of 15 seconds 3. Three-step hand hygiene technique with an application time of 30 seconds 4. Three-step hand hygiene technique with an application time of 15 seconds

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

CROSSOVER

Primary purpose

SCREENING

Masking

NONE

Intervention model description

Randomized crossover trial, comparing the following four sets of hand hygiene measurements per participant: 1. Six-step hand hygiene technique with an application time of 30 seconds 2. Six-step hand hygiene technique with an application time of 15 seconds 3. Three-step hand hygiene technique with an application time of 30 seconds 4. Three-step hand hygiene technique with an application time of 15 seconds

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Adult participants (≥18 years)

Exclusion criteria

* skin disorders as determined by a dermatologist * inability to follow procedures * insufficient knowledge of the project language * inability to give informed consent

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change of bacterial counts on hands pre and post hand hygiene measure	30 minutes	The log counts of bacteria detected on the dominant hand will be averaged separately for pre- and post values. Differences between pre- and post values, as well as in the mean logarithmic reduction in bacterial counts will be compared

Countries

Switzerland

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026