| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2017 | Volume
: 6
| Issue : 2 | Page : 69-74 |
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Intervention for improvement of knowledge on anemia prevention: A school-based study in a rural area of West Bengal
Lina Bandyopadhyay, Muktisadhan Maiti, Aparajita Dasgupta, Bobby Paul
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, All Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Correspondence Address:
Bobby Paul
P-19, Jadavpur University Employees' Housing Co-operative Society Ltd., P.O. Panchasayar, Kolkata - 700 094, West Bengal
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijhas.IJHAS_94_16
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CONTEXT: Adolescents are at a high risk of iron deficiency and anemia due to accelerated increase in the requirements for iron, coupled with poor dietary intake, high rate of infection, and worm infestation.
AIMS: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of health education intervention on baseline knowledge of anemia prevention among schoolgoing adolescents.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a quasi-experimental interventional study with before and after comparison group, conducted in one secondary school of Singur Block of Hooghly district, West Bengal, in September–October 2015. The study was conducted among 181 schoolchildren of standard VIII and IX by administering a predesigned self-administered questionnaire based on the following five domains – knowledge of anemia, role of diet, use of slipper, handwashing, health-seeking behavior, and management of anemia.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS software version 20, and both parametric (paired t- test) and nonparametric (McNemar-matched Chi-square test) test were applied for pre- and post-test comparison. To elicit the effect size, Cohen's d was calculated.
RESULTS: Out of the 181 students, 84 (46.4%) studied in Class VIII and rest in Class IX. About 86 (47.5%) students were boys and 95 (52.5%) were girls; with 70.2% in 14–16 years' age group. Postinterventional score on the five domains significantly improved (P < 0.001), and father's education was a significant predictor in preinterventional score. After health education intervention, knowledge score increased with a medium effect size.
CONCLUSION: Health education will play an effective role in improving health of adolescents by increasing knowledge and changing their attitude. |
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