Authors: Sheehan, James J.¹; Mott, Peter J.²; Sisk, Brian W.¹; Arbogast, James W.³; Ferrazzano-Yaussy, Cristina⁴; Bondi, Cara A. M.³

Source: Military Medicine, Volume 172, Number 11, November 2007 , pp. 1170-1176(7)

Publisher: AMSUS - Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Abstract:

We investigated the impact of a customized alcohol-based instant hand sanitizer hand-hygiene regimen in an Army basic training setting. The entire population at the U.S. Army Field Artillery Training Center, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, participated in the 13-week prospective cohort study between January 18, 2005 and April 18, 2005. Two training battalions were randomly assigned to the control group, one to the primary intervention group (customized Purell Instant Hand Sanitizer regimen, education, reinforcement) and one to the secondary intervention group (customized Purell Instant Hand Sanitizer regimen). When compared to the control group, intervention groups experienced 40% less respiratory illness (p < 0.001), 48% less gastrointestinal illness (p < 0.02), 44% less lost training time (p < 0.001), and 31% fewer health care encounters (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that this intervention is capable of significantly reducing illness in this setting and has the potential to help reduce absenteeism in the military workforce as a whole.

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Preventive Health Services, Academy of Health Sciences, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234-6142. 2: Directorate of Health Promotion and Wellness, U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010. 3: Research and Development, GOJO Industries, Inc., Akron, OH 44311. 4: Center for Clinical Research, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH 44106.

Publication date: 2007-11-01

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• Military Medicine is the Association's official monthly journal. The objective of the Journal is to promote awareness of Federal medicine by providing a forum for responsible discussion of common ideas and problems relevant to Federal healthcare. Its mission is: To increase healthcare education by providing scientific and other information to its readers; to facilitate communication; and to offer a prestige publication for members' writings.
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