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

August 9, 2026 updated by: Esra Şengün Deniz
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.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

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.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

59

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Parental consent obtained.
  • The child whose parental consent was obtained is willing to participate in the study.
  • Children aged 4-6 years attending A Preschool.
  • Children without any cognitive or developmental disabilities.
  • Children without hearing or visual impairments.
  • Children who can speak and understand Turkish.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Absence of parental consent.
  • Children who were unwilling to participate in the study despite parental consent being obtained.
  • Children with skin conditions or skin allergies.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Control Group
Participants in this group received standard hand hygiene education without culture media visualization using agar plates.
Behavioral: Standard Hand Hygiene Education
Participants in this group received standard hand hygiene education without culture media visualization using agar plates.
Experimental: Intervention group
Participants in this group received hand hygiene education supported by culture media visualization using agar plates. The agar plates were used to demonstrate bacterial colonies and visually reinforce the importance of effective handwashing.
Behavioral: Hand hygiene, handwashing behavior intervention
Agar plates were shown to the intervention group, allowing the demonstration of bacterial colonies.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Handwashing Behavior
Time Frame: Baseline and approximately 6 weeks after the intervention
Handwashing behavior was assessed by direct observation using a structured handwashing behavior observation form before and after the educational intervention.
Baseline and approximately 6 weeks after the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Esra Şengün Deniz

Collaborators

Ministry of National Education, Turkey

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 10, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

May 22, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 30, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 9, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 9, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2026-074

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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