A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Program on Knowledge Regarding Fluorosis in Selected Schools of Udaipur City

Background of the Study Millions of men, women and children in many countries of the world are affected by fluorosis and many of them are crippled and leading to a vegetative life. In India 62 million people including 6 million children are estimated to the serious health problem of due to consumption of fluoride containing water. In India at least 20 states are affected with fluorosis out of this Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujrat is most affected state with fluorosis. Therefore, researcher took a research study to asses knowledge regarding fluorosis among school children and to assess the effectiveness of STP as if they are aware about fluorosis they in turn will also aware their families and community about fluorosis because children are the upcoming builders of the community. Material and Methods In this study Pre- Experimental design, one group pre-test and post-test design was used. Evaluative approach was used for the present study. This study was conducted at selected high schools of Udaipur city. Samples were selected by using simple random sampling method. The Sample size for the present study comprised of 110 high school children. Data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results On over all comparison mean pre and post-test level of knowledge among respondents regarding Fluorosis. In the pre-test 88 %, respondents had poor knowledge, 12 % had average knowledge and no one had good knowledge level regarding Fluorosis while in post-test 45 %, respondents had poor knowledge, 34 % had average knowledge and 21 % had good knowledge level regarding Fluorosis. The mean pre-test knowledge scores were 8.33 with SD 5.07. The mean post-test knowledge scores were 15.30 with SD 4.19. Conclusion aThe structured teaching program significantly increased the knowledge of high school children regarding Fluorosis. The structured teaching program was an effective strategy to enhance the knowledge of high school children so these kind of strategies can be used in the school to increase knowledge regarding fluorosis to reduce the ill effects of fluorosis on health.