ABSTRACT
Background: Road traffic accidents are an emerging global health problem. It is projected that road traffic injuries will move up to the third by the year 2020 among leading causes of the global disease burden.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 248 truck drivers in Dunkuni area Hooghly for a period of 2 years from August 2017 to July 2018. By simple random sampling 248 truck drivers were selected from 641 registered drivers of the two-truck driver’s association. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Ethics committee of AIIH and PH, Kolkata. After getting informed written consent for participation, the pre-designed pre-tested schedule was filled up. Data was analysed using SPSS16 version and bivariate analysis was done. For knowledge score (12 items), each item of positive response was scored as +2 and for negative response +1. Stress among truck drivers was assessed using perceived stress scale.Results: Mean age of the participants was 37 years. 24.2% participants studied up to secondary school and 134 (54%) belonged to class IV. 21.0% had history of alcohol addiction, 80.6% had high stress. Adequate knowledge of traffic sign was observed among 79.8% participants and overall adequate knowledge was found among 135 (54.4%) participants.Conclusions: Regular behavioural change communication sessions and intermittent sessions on safe-driving methods among truckers may prove beneficial in preventing road traffic accidents.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Children are the hope and future for a nation.But, a large section of children is effected from malnutritionis also due to lack of knowledge and practices regarding theirfood requirements. So this study was conducted to designa training module to conduct more focused and need-basededucational interventions.Material and Methods: The present study was anintervention pre-post study on healthy life style among 187Madrasahs students of class VII and VIII where interventiongiven to the study Madrasah with the help of need basedcurriculum through trained teachers where teachers weretrained beforehand by the researcher himself.Results: The mean pretest knowledge score in study Madrasahwas 8.79 ± 4.15 and post test score was 24.19 ± 3.19.Thecalculated t-value was 33.34 and P value was less than 0.05with effect size 4.160 (Cohen’s D). In control Madrasah themean pretest knowledge score was 9.11± 4.45 and post testscore was 10.78 ± 4.32. The calculated t-value was 1.82 and Pvalue was 0.07 with effect size 0.061 (Cohen’s D).Conclusion: This study was conducted to develop andevaluate a need-based training curriculum for madrasahstudents of rural West Bengal on nutritional knowledge andpractices. This training curriculum was implemented bytrained teachers who were. The finding of the study mayprovide adequate evidence to conduct more focused and needbased educational interventions to equip school students withage appropriate knowledge and practices.
ABSTRACT
Background: Tobacco smoking habit is imbibed at a very early stage of life and once it is taken up it becomes very difficult to give up. In fact the vast majority of tobacco users worldwide begin the use of tobacco during adolescence. Objective of the study was to develop and evaluate a need-based training curriculum on healthy life style in terms of addiction for Madrasah students of rural West Bengal.Methods: It was a school-based health educational intervention study in rural area of Hooghly district, West Bengal among 189 Madrasahs students.Results: The mean pre-test knowledge score in study Madrasah was 6.06±2.69 and post test score was 10.83±1.69. The calculated t-value was 24.06 and p value was 0.00 with effect size 2.12 (Cohen’s D). The observed increase in the knowledge of consequences of smoking in the study Madrasah after the health education was statistically significant. There was no significant difference in the knowledge of the control Madrasah on the health consequences associated with cigarette smoking in pre and post-test.Conclusions: As adolescent period is the ideal period to impart life-style related training it is obvious that vital opportunities are being missed due to lack of need-based training on life-style issues for this important population group. So, a well-designed need-based health educational intervention may play active role in bringing desired knowledge and behavior among the population group.
ABSTRACT
Context: Oral health means more than only good teeth. It is a state-of-being-free from mouth and facial pain, oral and throat cancer, oral infections, periodontal diseases, tooth decay or loss, and other diseases/disorders. The age distribution of the world's population is changing. With advances in medicine, the proportion of older people continues to increase worldwide. Aims, Setting, Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 158 elderly (>60 years) residing in a slum of Kolkata during the period from April 2017 to June 2017 to assess the impact of oral health on general health. Data were collected using a pretested predesigned schedule containing Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index. Data analysis was performed in R software. Poisson regression was used to find the associates of the impact of oral health. Results: Mean (standard deviation) age was 68.54 (5.9) years. A total of 104 (65.8%) participants reported; foul breath as a problem and 88 (55.7%) reported gum bleeding as a problem. All participants used to clean their teeth daily but only 36.1% used to clean their teeth at least twice daily. More than half the participants reported that they have limited the kind of food they eat due to dental/gum condition and trouble chewing. Conclusion: There is a need to provide sensitive oral health services that are accessible, affordable, appropriate, and acceptable. Knowledge regarding oral health and hygiene should be provided to all elderly, especially diabetics. Further research with the broader conceptual framework, in different age groups and in different settings are warranted.