• Semiha Erkoca, Nursel Dündar, and Ayşe Çal.
• Oral and Dental Health Program, Ankara Medipol University, Vocational School of Health Services, Ankara, Turkey.
• J Eval Clin Pract. 2024 Oct 21.

AimsThis study aimed to examine the effect of the hand hygiene education on middle school students' behavioral scores related to hand hygiene practices.DesignThe research adheres to a quasi-experimental design suitable for the pre-test Posttest model with a control group.MethodsThe population of the study consists of a total of 1159 students, comprising 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. During the first semester of the 2021-2022 academic year, face-to-face education was conducted at a middle school located in Ankara. Two face-to-face training sessions were conducted to increase awareness of hand hygiene.ResultsThe groups indicate homogeneity in terms of demographic characteristics. The mean hand hygiene behavior score was 56.45 ± 8.03 before the education in the intervention group, which increased to 59.79 ± 7.62 after the education. In the control group, the mean score was 55.98 ± 7.89 before the education and 57.15 ± 7.63 after the education. It was found that after the educational program, there was a statistically significant increase in hand hygiene behavior scores of the groups.ConclusionThe research findings indicate a beneficial impact of hand hygiene education on students' average behavioral scores.ImpactTo foster lasting behavioral changes from a young age, it is advisable to implement hygiene education in schools periodically, including targeted interventions for middle school students.© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

3 keywords...

hide…