Infection prevention at day-care centres: Feasibility and possible effects of intervention

Abstract

Objective. To study the effect of an educationally oriented intervention programme, with the recommendations from the National Board of Health and Welfare as a base. Design. A prospective intervention study. Setting. Six day-care centres in Växjö, Sweden. Three centres comprised the intervention group and three constituted the control group. Subjects and main outcome measures. The parents and personnel completed a questionnaire on their views concerning information about infectious diseases. During a nine-month period, parents of all children reported every episode of absence, the number of days absent, the cause of absence, and any contact with doctors or prescription of antibiotics. Results. The guidelines were implementable in routine child day-care. Parents found regular information valuable and felt better informed about infectious diseases. Multilevel analyses showed no statistically significant results of the intervention. “Infection-prone” children had more sickness absence, doctor's consultations, and antibiotic prescriptions than those not “infection-prone”. Conclusion. It is possible to implement an educationally oriented intervention programme directed against infectious diseases in child day-care. No significant effect of the intervention was found, which is why a larger intervention study is needed.

• Day-care centre
• intervention
• parents
• pre-school children
• respiratory tract infections