Knowledge of Auto-rickshaw Drivers regarding the Effects of Air Pollution on Health and its Prevention

Abstract

Background: Air pollution kills an estimated 2.7 to 3 million people every year. Nine out of ten deaths by air pollution take place in the developing world where 80 percent of all people live. World Health Organization estimated that about 7,00,000 deaths annually could be prevented in developing countries if atmospheric pollutants were brought down to safer levels. Increased urbanization and economic activities have increased vehicular traffic using diesel and petrol, both of which cause emission of nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide. Heavy vehicles which use diesel as fuel emit large quantities of respirable suspended particulate matter. The diesel engine generates 1400 times more particles than the petrol engine. Approximately, 10, 00,00,00,00,000 particles enter into the lungs of each human being every day. In India, most people breathe air with a high concentration of polluted air. The air is highly polluted in most cities. This has led to an incidence associated health impact on the population manifestation in the form of subclinical effects on health, impaired pulmonary functions, breathing problems, frequent medical consultations, and even death in the exposed population. As per the World Bank study, respiratory infections contribute to 10.9 percent of the total burden of diseases. Because of urbanization and industrialization, road-based passenger transport has recorded very high demands. The total number of motor vehicles has increased from 0.3 million in 1951 to 67 million in 2003, whereas the share of public transport has severely declined from 11 to 1.1 percent in the same period. Methods: A structural interview schedule was developed to collect the data. A pilot study was conducted from 01-10-2009 to 08-10-2009 at Gaddankeri auto-rickshaw stand. The final study was conducted from 10-10-2009 to 25-11-2009 at Basweshwar Circle autostand, Karnataka State Transport bus stand, auto stand, Kerudi Hospital auto stand, Daddenawar Hospital auto stand, Old Hanuman Mandir auto stand, Old Post Office auto stand, Shantinagar auto stand, Ambedkar Circle auto stand with a sample size of 100 auto-rickshaw drivers selected by convenient non-random sampling technique and the data collected was analyzed and interpreted based on descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The level of knowledge of auto-rickshaw drivers regarding effects of air pollution on health and its prevention is as follows: the majority (53%) of study subjects had medium knowledge and 46% of them had inadequate knowledge whereas 1% of the study subjects had adequate knowledge regarding effects of air pollution on health and its prevention. Thus, the hypothesis H1: More than 50 percent of auto-rickshaw drivers will have high knowledge regarding the effects of air pollution on health, and its prevention was rejected. The total mean was 15.33 and the total mean percentage was 36.50% with a standard deviation of 5.30. Area-wise mean percentage of knowledge score was a total of 29.83 in the area of knowledge regarding air pollution in general with a mean score of 1.79 and a standard deviation of 1.12. In the area of knowledge towards the effects *Author for Correspondence Sanjay Shinde E-mail: [email protected] 1Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, College of Health and Medical Sciences, Bule Hora University, Bule Hora, Ethiopia 2Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, Governmentt. College of Nursing Science, Vijayapur, Karnataka, India 3 Principal, Vijaya College of Nursing Sciences, Belgaum, Karnataka, India 4Community Health Officer, Vijayapur, Karnataka, India Received Date: October 31, 2020 Accepted Date: November 14, 2020 Published Date: May 08, 2021 Citation: Sanjay Shinde, Rajani Devi Hiremath, Julie Jadhav, Pritam Kabade. Knowledge of Auto-rickshaw Drivers regarding the Effects of Air Pollution on Health and its Prevention. International Journal of Emergency and Trauma Nursing. 2021; 7(1): 62–71p.Knowledge of Auto-rickshaw Drivers regarding Shinde et al. © JournalsPub 2021. All Rights Reserved 63 of air pollution on health, the mean percentage of knowledge score was 42.07 with a mean score 5.89 and a standard deviation 2.34. Mean percentage of knowledge regarding prevention of air pollution score was a total of 38.50 with mean score 4.62 and a standard deviation 2.13. In the area of knowledge regarding prevention of effects of air pollution on health, the mean percentage was 41.10 percent with mean score 4.11 and standard deviation 9.81. The finding revealed that the study subjects had more knowledge (with mean percentage 42.07) regarding effects of air pollution on health. In other areas, mean percentage of knowledge was more or less similar. A significant association was found between knowledge of auto-rickshaw drivers and socio-demographic variable such as “Duration of work hours” (χ2 = 6.81), and “Sources of information regarding health” (χ2 = 9.15). No significant association was found between other variables. Thus, the hypothesis H2: There will be a significant relationship between knowledge of auto-rickshaw drivers regarding effects of air pollution on health and its prevention and their selected socio-demographic variables, at 0.05 level of significance is accepted. Conclusion: The following conclusions were drawn on the basis of the present study. 1 percent of auto-rickshaw drivers had adequate knowledge, 53% of auto-rickshaw drivers had medium knowledge whereas 46% of auto-rickshaw drivers had inadequate knowledge. A significant association was found between sources of information regarding health, duration of working hours, and knowledge regarding the effects of air pollution on health and its prevention. There was no significant association between other selected variables and knowledge of autorickshaw drivers