The Effect of Culture Media Visualization-Supported Hand Hygiene Education on Handwashing Behavior in Preschool Children

Overview

The hand hygiene educational intervention supported by culture medium visualization was found to be an effective practice in promoting proper handwashing behaviors and reducing hand microbial load in children aged 5-6 years. The educational intervention featuring culture plate demonstrations applied to the intervention group was determined to be highly effective in achieving hand hygiene and reducing hand bacterial load. In contrast, the control group received traditional education, which did not yield a statistically significant difference.

Objective: The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a culture medium visualization supported hand hygiene education program implemented for preschool children on their acquisition of handwashing skills and habits. Materials and Method: The study was conducted using a pretest-postted randomized controlled experimental design, one of the quantitave research methods. The research was carried out with 59 preschool children aged 5-6 years in a kindergarten located in the Keçiören district of Ankara Province. Handwashing behaviors of the children were observed before and after the intervention and recorded using the Handwashing Behavior Assessment Form. To evaluate hand microbial load, hand culture samples were collected using biplate 5% Sheep Blood+Chromogenic UTI Agar. For data analysis, the Chi-Square test was used to compare categorical variables and the McNemar test was performed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of culture medium visualization before and after the training. An ANCOVA test was applied to assess baseline measurements of continuous variables between groups and to evaluate the effect of the educational intervention.