Comparing the effectiveness of different health education approaches for preventing tobacco use among school-going students in a government school of Dadra and Nagar Haveli district

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Four out of five people who use tobacco begin before they reach adulthood. Schools provide the opportunity to address the young population before they initiate tobacco use. Different health education approaches have their unique merits and demerits. The present study aims to assess the use of various approaches for effective communication with students regarding tobacco hazards. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a health education intervention study done at a Government School in Dadra and Nagar Haveli district. The students of class IX and class XI of Government School were educated about the harmful effects of tobacco and government regulations against tobacco use using various methods of health education; chalk and talk, panel discussion, roleplay, pamphlet distribution, etc., The Student “t” test was used to compare scores obtained by students before and after the intervention. The Chi-square test was used to test associations between variables. Bonferroni post hoc test was used to test for significant differences between various methods of health education imparted to students. RESULTS: A total of 367 students participated in the study, with females comprising 53% of the sample. The mean age of the students was 15.7 years (±1.05). The study found the magnitude of a statistically significant increase in mean score percentages for knowledge through various health education methods: chalk and talk (37.0%, P < 0.0001), pamphlet (26.65%, P < 0.0001), roleplay (20.83%, P = 0.0003), panel discussion (14.7%, P = 0.0009), poster (12.6%, P = 0.0025), symposium (8.4%, P = 0.0221), and leaflet (−4.0%, P = 0.0382). Furthermore, the Bonferroni post hoc test demonstrated that the chalk-and-talk method was more effective in enhancing knowledge, while the leaflet method was more influential in shaping attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: The chalk-and-talk method is the most effective health education method for awareness of tobacco hazards among class IX and XI students. While planning for health education dissemination, the approach should be chosen wisely considering the content to be delivered.