Perception of Hazards of Tobacco Use: Effect of Educational Intervention among School Students in a Suburban Area of West Bengal.

Dey Atanu; Dasgupta Aparajita; Paul Bobby; Sembiah Sembagamuthu; Garg Shobhit

Volume : VII, Issue : X, October - 2017

Perception of Hazards of Tobacco Use: Effect of Educational Intervention among School Students in a Suburban Area of West Bengal.

Dey Atanu, Dasgupta Aparajita, Paul Bobby, Sembiah Sembagamuthu, Garg Shobhit

Abstract :

Background: Adolescence is a crucial crossover time of human life and tobacco use in this age group is not uncommon as revealed by GYTS India 2009 estimates (14.6%). Objectives and methodology: An interventional study was done among 151 students of 8^th, 9^th and 10^th standard of a boys high school of North 24Paraganas, West Bengal to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of tobacco use among them and to elicit the effect of health education on their knowledge and attitude towards tobacco use. Results: 16.6% of the students were currently using tobacco products where as 32.5% of the students had ever used tobacco. Pre–intervention knowledge score (median=13) increased after intervention (median=21) and this improvement was statistically significant (P< 0.05) with effect size (r) 0.615. Conclusion: Health education about hazards of tobacco among school students can be used as a measure of primordial prevention of tobacco related health hazards.