Effectiveness of an Awareness Program about the Harmful Effects of Tobacco and Alcohol on Knowledge and Self Reported Practice of Adolescent Students Studying in a Selected School of Dehradun India

The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of an awareness program about the harmfu l effects of tobacco and alcohol on knowledge and self reported practice of adolescent students, so as to initiate a preventive action endeavor against the menace of tobacco and alcohol addiction. A quantitative evaluative approach with pre experimental method (one group pre-test post-test design) was adopted. Cluster sampling was used to select the setting for the study. One school was selected randomly for the study out of four schools present in the selected setting. Two sections out of possible six sections from class 11 and 12 were selected by lottery method as a sample for the study. The data were collected using structured knowledge and self reported practice questionnaire including socio demographic proforma. All the study participants were aged between 14 and 17 years, 64.5% were boys, and 73.8% were from nuclear family. Awareness programme regarding harmful effects of alcohol and tobacco was provided to the study participants. Pre-test and post-test assessment of was done to assess the knowledge and self reported practice regard ing the harmful effects of alcohol and tobacco. The analysis of pretest and posttest knowledge score using paired t-test revealed that there was significant improvement in knowledge regarding harmful effects of alcohol and tobacco use (t=27.61, p=0.001). None of the adolescent reported that they have ever used alcohol or tobacco. However 68.22% of adolescents reported that their family members chew tobacco and 15% of their closest friends chew and 24.29% of their closest friends smoked tobacco. Majority (88.17%) of the adolescents perceived that smoking was harmful to the health. The study concluded that the awareness program resulted in significant improvement of knowledge about harmful effects of tobacco and alcohol use. It is recommended that there should be continuous enforcement to change the lifestyle of adolescent students so as to prevent their addictive habit of tobacco and alcohol.