A Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Educational Intervention on Knowledge Regarding Air Quality Index (AQI) and Conservative Management Practices among Intermediate Students in Selected School of Urban Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

Air pollution is one of the major environmental and public health problems affecting populations across the world. Exposure to polluted air is associated with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, including respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke and ischemic heart disease. The Air Quality Index (AQI) is an important tool for communicating the status of air quality in an easily understandable form and helps people recognize the potential health effects of air pollution. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on knowledge regarding Air Quality Index (AQI) and conservative management practices among intermediate students in a selected school of urban Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A quantitative evaluative research approach with a quasi-experimental one-group pre-test post-test research design was adopted. A total of 60 intermediate students were selected by non-probability purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using a structured knowledge questionnaire consisting of 30 items related to AQI, causes and health effects of poor air quality, preventive measures and conservative management practices. In the pre-test, 28 (46%) students had poor knowledge and 32 (54%) had average knowledge, while none had good knowledge. In the post-test, none of the students had poor knowledge, 14 (23.3%) had average knowledge and 46 (76.7%) had good knowledge. The pre-test mean knowledge score was 11.03 with a standard deviation of 4.722, whereas the post-test mean knowledge score was 24.60 with a standard deviation of 1.625. The mean difference was 13.57 and the calculated paired t value was 21.20 at 0.05 level of significance. The findings indicate a significant improvement in knowledge following the educational intervention. Therefore, the educational intervention was found to be effective in improving knowledge regarding AQI and conservative management practices among intermediate students.