Public Health Division, Ghana Health Service, Accra, Ghana.
Department of Data Science and Economic Policy, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 29;19(8):e0309202. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309202. eCollection 2024.
The human hand has constant contact with the environment, hence requires regular hand hygiene. Hand hygiene has gained recognition because of the COVID-19 pandemic and is a largely effective, affordable preventive measure against infectious diseases. This study used both national and sub-national analyses to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 handwashing guidelines on instances of diarrhea in Ghana.
Data on diarrhea cases spanning February 2018 and March 2022 were retrieved from the District Health Information Management System (DHIMS 2) using a data extraction guide. The data were summarized using descriptive statistics. The difference in diarrhea cases between the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods was measured using a two-sample t-test across Ghana's 16 administrative areas. Causal Impact package in R statistical software was employed to determine the impact of the introduction of COVID-19 hand hygiene protocols on diarrheal disease.
A total of 5,645,533 diarrheal cases reported between February 2018 and March 2022 through the routine MIS (DHIMS2) were examined. Fifty-three percent of the cases occurred before the introduction of the hand hygiene protocol. Descriptive statistics indicated a statistically significant decrease in average diarrheal cases during the hand hygiene implementation era (13,463 cases reduction, p<0.001). Sub-national analyses revealed significant reductions in various regions: Greater Accra, Ashanti, Ahafo, Central, Eastern, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, and Volta (p<0.05). Causal impact analysis confirmed 11.0% nationwide reduction in diarrheal cases attributed to the COVID-19 hand hygiene protocols (p<0.001).
This study underscores the effectiveness of COVID-19 hand hygiene protocols in reducing diarrheal morbidity in Ghana, with varying regional impacts. These findings advocate for the sustenance of investments and commitments made at the COVID hand hygiene protocols, particularly in this era where the pandemic appears controlled.
人手经常接触环境，因此需要经常进行手部卫生。由于 COVID-19 大流行，手部卫生已得到认可，它是一种针对传染病的有效且负担得起的预防措施。本研究使用国家和次国家分析来评估 COVID-19 洗手指南对加纳腹泻病例的影响。
从地区卫生信息管理系统（DHIMS2）中使用数据提取指南检索了 2018 年 2 月至 2022 年 3 月的腹泻病例数据。使用描述性统计数据对数据进行总结。使用两个样本 t 检验测量加纳 16 个行政区在 COVID-19 之前和 COVID-19 期间腹泻病例的差异。在 R 统计软件的因果影响包中，用于确定引入 COVID-19 手部卫生协议对腹泻病的影响。
共检查了 2018 年 2 月至 2022 年 3 月期间通过常规 MIS（DHIMS2）报告的 5645533 例腹泻病例。53%的病例发生在引入手部卫生协议之前。描述性统计数据表明，在实施手部卫生协议期间，平均腹泻病例数量呈显著下降（减少 13463 例，p<0.001）。次国家分析显示，在各个地区均有显著减少：大阿克拉、阿散蒂、阿哈福、中部、东部、北部、上东部、上西部和沃尔特（p<0.05）。因果影响分析证实，全国腹泻病例减少了 11.0%归因于 COVID-19 手部卫生协议（p<0.001）。
本研究强调了 COVID-19 手部卫生协议在降低加纳腹泻发病率方面的有效性，具有不同的区域影响。这些发现主张维持在 COVID 手部卫生协议方面所做的投资和承诺，特别是在大流行似乎得到控制的这个时代。
