Bhat Vivek, Coates Reubel, Shanbhag Deepthi, Pillai Natasha, Zacharias Neha, D'Souza Reema, Mathew Geo Judes
Department of Community Health, St. John's Medical College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
J Educ Health Promot. 2023 Jan 31;12:19. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_965_22. eCollection 2023.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death in India. Atherosclerosis begins in the second decade of life; thus, preventive efforts beginning in adolescence are crucial. Yet, there are no national or regional school-based educational programs in India for the prevention of CVD. We aimed to assess the impact of a simple educational intervention on the awareness regarding CVD among school-going adolescents in a rural area of Bengaluru.
This study was conducted using a convenience sample of school-going adolescents of classes 8, 9, and 10 in three schools in a rural area of Anekal subdistrict, Bengaluru, with a sample size of 170. A standardized, validated questionnaire testing CVD awareness was administered, followed by a simple lecture with audio-visual aids on key aspects of CVD. Three weeks later, the same questionnaire was administered to the same students. The results were then analyzed using appropriate descriptive (mean, percentage) and inferential analyses (Chi-square, paired -test).
The mean (SD) age was 14.5 (1.0) years, and 54% ( = 100) were boys. 75% (139) belonged to privately funded schools. 23% (43) belonged to class 8, 37% (69) to class 9, and 40% (74) to class 10. The mean (SD) total score on baseline assessment was 27.4 (9.3) out of 100, with girls and students of private schools scoring higher. The mean (SD) post-test total score was 48.5 (15.7), with significant increases in all domains of awareness, and in all categories of students.
Awareness regarding CVD among adolescents from rural Bengaluru was poor, highlighting the need for educational interventions to aid preventive efforts. A simple educational intervention resulted in significant improvements in CVD awareness, even after 3 weeks.
心血管疾病（CVD）是印度头号死因。动脉粥样硬化始于生命的第二个十年；因此，从青少年时期开始的预防工作至关重要。然而，印度没有全国性或地区性的基于学校的心血管疾病预防教育项目。我们旨在评估一项简单的教育干预措施对班加罗尔农村地区在校青少年心血管疾病认知的影响。
本研究采用便利抽样法，选取了班加罗尔阿内卡尔分区农村地区三所学校8、9、10年级的在校青少年，样本量为170名。使用一份经过标准化、验证的测试心血管疾病认知的问卷进行调查，随后进行一场关于心血管疾病关键方面的配有视听辅助工具的简单讲座。三周后，对相同的学生再次发放相同的问卷。然后使用适当的描述性分析（均值、百分比）和推断性分析（卡方检验、配对t检验）对结果进行分析。
平均（标准差）年龄为14.5（1.0）岁，54%（n = 100）为男孩。75%（139名）就读于私立学校。23%（43名）属于8年级，37%（69名）属于9年级，40%（74名）属于10年级。基线评估的平均（标准差）总分在100分中为27.4（9.3）分，女生和私立学校学生得分更高。测试后平均（标准差）总分是48.5（15.7）分，所有认知领域以及所有类别学生的得分均有显著提高。
班加罗尔农村地区青少年对心血管疾病的认知较差，凸显了开展教育干预以助力预防工作的必要性。一项简单的教育干预即使在3周后也使心血管疾病认知有了显著改善。
