27 Oct A Hand Hygiene Pilot Randomized Cluster Trial to Decrease Infections among U.S. Office-Based Employees

Revise / edit the following fictitious draft abstract which contains 285 words to a reduction of 250 or less words, while correcting errors in sentence structure. Separate the information in the abstract into the following heading sections: Background; Purpose; Methods; Results; and Conclusion(s). Perform the revision using word tracking in a word document so that all changes can be seen in red ink. Briefly explain the major approaches from course material that you used to reduce the words and correct grammar errors present in the abstract draft.

DRAFT ABSTRACT:

“A Hand Hygiene Pilot Randomized Cluster Trial to Decrease Infections among U.S. Office-Based Employees”

Communicable diseases, including acute respiratory infections (ARI), influenza-like illness (ILI) and gastrointestinal (GI) infections exact a considerable toll on society each year. It has been calculated that the global annual attack rate of influenza is estimated at approximately 5-10% in adults and the costs of communicable diseases are estimated in the billions of dollars. Contaminated hands serve as vectors for the transfer of pathogens and are an important source of the transmission of infectious disease. Hand hygiene behaviors as a disease prevention strategy have been promoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as an approach to prevent the spread of disease. The primary purpose of this study is was to determine the effectiveness of an office based multimodal hand hygiene improvement intervention in order to reduce self reported illness and work related absence among employees. A pilot hand hygiene improvement intervention that consisted of administering an electronic training video, hand sanitizer, and educational posters was delivered to office based employees in a Midwestern government center, the duration of which was more than 90 days. A randomized cluster trial with 131 employees in the intervention groups compared to 193 workers in the control group was utilized. Incidence rate ratios were calculated using generalized linear mixed models with a Poisson distribution, and adjusted for possible confounders and random cluster effects. The study results showed that the intervention group had a 31% relative reduction in self reported ARI-ILI/GI infections in comparison with the control group. There was a 21% relative reduction in lost workdays that was reported, but this was not a statistically significant finding, among those receiving the intervention. An office-based multimodal hand hygiene improvement intervention demonstrated a substantive reduction in self-reported combined ARI-ILI/GI infections.