Hygiene and Health: Systematic Review of Handwashing Practices Worldwide and Update of Health Effects

This journal paper by Freeman et al. (2014) and published in Tropical Medicine and International Health, summarises a study, supported by SHARE researchers, that estimates the global prevalence of handwashing with soap and derives a pooled estimate of the effect of hygiene on diarrhoeal diseases, based on a systematic search of the literature. Meta-regression of risk estimates suggests that handwashing reduces the risk of diarrhoeal disease by 40%, and by 23% when adjusted for unblinded studies.