Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Interventions to Combat Childhood Diarrhoea in Developing Countries

This report is a synthetic review of impact evaluations examining effectiveness of water, sanitation and hygiene (WSH) interventions in reducing childhood diarrhoea. The review has been conducted to Campbell/Cochrane Collabo ration standards of systematic review, as well as employing mixed methods of data analysis to assess not only which interventions are effective, or not, but why and under what circumstances. The review provides an update of previous reviews conducted in this area, notably Fewtrell and Colford (2004).

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Interventions to Combat Childhood Diarrhoea in Developing Countries

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Howard-White/publication/228378510_Water_sanitation_and_hygiene_interventions_to_combat_childhood_diarrhoea_in_developing_countries/links/004635214853d795f6000000/Water-sanitation-and-hygiene-interventions-to-combat-childhood-diarrhoea-in-developing-countries.pdf

A comprehensive search was conducted of published and unpublished materials. Studies were identified for inclusion which employed rigorous impact evaluation techniques, using experimental (randomised assignme nt) and quasi-experimental methods, and which evaluated the impact of water, sanitation and/or hygiene interventions on diarrhoea morbidity among children in low- and middle-income countries. 65 rigorous impact evaluations were identified for quantitative synthesis, covering 71 distinct interventions assessed across 130,000 children in 35 developing countries during the past three decades. Each study was coded for a range of variables relating to type of intervention, effect size and precision, internal validity (relating to evaluation quality) and external validity (relating to context and behavioural mechanisms ). Interventions were grouped into five categories: water supply improvements, water quality, sanitation, hygiene and multiple interventions involving a combination of water and sanitation and/or hygiene. Data were collected and synthesised on both quantitative and qualitative information presented in the evaluations.

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