Interventions to improve disposal of child faeces for preventing diarrhoea and soil‐transmitted helminth infection

Background

Diarrhoea and soil‐transmitted helminth (STH) infections represent a large disease burden worldwide, particularly in low‐income countries. As the aetiological agents associated with diarrhoea and STHs are transmitted through faeces, the safe containment and management of human excreta has the potential to reduce exposure and disease. Child faeces may be an important source of exposure even among households with improved sanitation. 

Objectives

To assess the effectiveness of interventions to improve the disposal of child faeces for preventing diarrhoea and STH infections. 

Search methods

We searched the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group Specialized Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and 10 other databases. We also searched relevant conference proceedings, contacted researchers, searched websites for organizations, and checked references from identified studies. The date of last search was 27 September 2018. 

Selection criteria

We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non‐randomized controlled studies (NRS) that compared interventions aiming to improve the disposal of faeces of children aged below five years in order to decrease direct or indirect human contact with such faeces with no intervention or a different intervention in children and adults. 

Data collection and analysis

Two review authors selected eligible studies, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. We used meta‐analyses to estimate pooled measures of effect where appropriate, or described the study results narratively. We assessed the certainty of the evidence using the GRADE approach. 

Main results

Sixty‐three studies covering more than 222,800 participants met the inclusion criteria. Twenty‐two studies were cluster RCTs, four were controlled before‐and‐after studies (CBA), and 37 were NRS (27 case‐control studies (one that included seven study sites), three controlled cohort studies, and seven controlled cross‐sectional studies). Most study sites (56/69) were in low‐ or lower middle‐income settings. Among studies using experimental study designs, most interventions included child faeces disposal messages along with other health education messages or other water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) hardware and software components. Among observational studies, the main risk factors relevant to this review were safe disposal of faeces in the latrine or defecation of children under five years of age in a latrine.