Effectiveness of VR on the Sustainability of Hand Hygiene Compliance: School-based RCT With 10-month Follow-up
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age12-15
SponsorThe University of Hong Kong
About this trial
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a VR intervention on teaching handwashing skills which are promoted by the Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health, HKSAR. A 7-step handwashing approach will be taught through a customized VR game in secondary schools in Hong Kong. Participant's handwashing skills and prolonged effects on handwashing habits and hygiene level will be assessed.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
* Does an intervention of our VR handwashing game enhance handwashing skills amongst junior secondary students? * What are the factors hinder or enhance students' learning of handwashing skills in the intervention?
Participating students will be assigned into 3 groups. Each group will receive two sessions of educational training with different kinds of intervention throughout one school year (9 months). The first intervention group will participate in two VR-game sessions on handwashing skill; the second intervention group will participate in one VR-game session and one video session about handwashing; the baseline group will participate in two sessions of other VR activities unrelated to hand hygiene and view a handwashing skill poster. The research will compare the handwashing performance between the three groups.
Participants will:
* participate into a VR handwashing game intervention, or a video-based intervention, or placebo VR activities as stated hereinafter; * perform handwashing in the VR game, and their hand-motion data will be captured; * participate a UV lighting test after handwashing away fluorescent lotion; and, * fill up questionnaires
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Hong Kong secondary school students studying junior forms
Disqualifiers
None
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
VR Handwashing Game (2 sessions)
Other interventionThe intervention will be a VR game taught about the '7-Steps approach' of hand-washing promoted by Centre for Health Protection, HKSAR. The game is comprised of two parts: Training Mode and Challenge Mode. In Training Mode, students will be guided with text and voice feedback. A pair of 'ghost hands' will demonstrate what to do. Students follow the movements of the 'ghost hands' to complete the handwashing tasks. In the Challenge Mode, students are requested to perform all the steps at once by their own memory, hints will be given only when they encounter setback in an assigned duration. Trained facilitators will teach participants how to use the VR devices and provide briefing sessions on how to play the game. For the Intervention Group 1, they will play the game in two separate sessions (about 4 months between the two sessions).
VR Handwashing Game (1 session) + Video on hand hygiene (1 session)
Other interventionFor Intervention Group 2, participants will attain one VR game session and 1 video-instructed session.
Treatment groups
500 Participants
are divided into 3 treatment groupsGroup A: Intervention 1Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Intervention 2Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Group C: Baseline GroupNo intervention 0 interventions
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Hand-imaging Data
Ultraviolet-sensitive fluorescent lotion (e.g., Glo Germ™) will be applied on participants' hands thoroughly to simulate full contamination (e.g., germs and pathogens) on hands. Then participants wash their hands. The areas where lotion has been washed out are considered as 'decontaminated'. The participants will put their washed hands in a black box with an Ultraviolet-A (365nm) lighting system. Both palms and dorsa of left and right hands will be photographed.
Time frame
Hand-imaging data will only be collected before the 1st intervention and at the end of the data collection period (about 9 months after the 1st intervention).Secondary outcomes
1
Knowledge on Hand Hygiene and Handwashing
As this study is focused on handwashing skills and steps, questionnaires on this field are usually customized for the context of the research (i.e., steps and skills can be differed between studies). As our interventions mainly teach about the 7-handwashing steps suggested by the Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health, HKSAR, five questions will be developed to assess participants' knowledge of the handwashing procedures.
Time frame
This measurement will be collected through questionnaire pre-intervention, immediately after 1st intervention, after 2nd intervention (5 months after 1st intervention) and in the follow-up survey (9 months after 1st intervention).2
Handwashing Habit
Two components on handwashing habit will be measured frequency of handwashing. Five items on how often the participants cleaned their hands on five different scenarios (before meal, after using washroom, after taking public transportation, after arriving at the school and after going back home) will be asked to measure the frequency of handwashing (5-point scale from 'never' to 'always'.
Time frame
This measurement will be collected through questionnaire pre-intervention, immediately after 1st intervention, after 2nd intervention (5 months after 1st intervention) and in the follow-up survey (9 months after 1st intervention).3
Attitude and Intention
The attitude on automaticity of handwashing habit will be measured by the Self-Report Behaviour Automaticity Index (SRBAI), which has already been modified and validated into four items regarding handwashing in another study. The sample item is 'Hand washing is something I start doing before I realise I'm doing it'. The four items are measured on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 ("does not apply to me at all") to 7 ("completely applies to me"). Behavioural intention will be measured by a single item : "In my daily routine, I want to perform hand hygiene as correctly as possible" on a 7-point Likert scale.
Time frame
This measurement will be collected through questionnaire pre-intervention, immediately after 1st intervention, after 2nd intervention (5 months after 1st intervention) and in the follow-up survey (9 months after 1st intervention).Sponsors and contacts
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Source ClinicalTrials.gov