A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on Knowledge regarding Tobacco Chewing Hazards and its Prevention among Adolescents in Selected Rural Areas at Hassan

There is a rapid spread of tobacco use by young peoples who may be unaware of their harmful effects. So there is a need to protect present and future generation from the consequences of tobacco consumption by providing a frame work for tobacco control measures. objectives: To assess the pre test knowledge on tobacco chewing hazards and its prevention among experimental and control group, To assess the post test knowledge on tobacco chewing hazards and its prevention after intervention in experimental group and control group, To compare the pre-test and post test knowledge on tobacco chewing hazards and its prevention between experimental group and control group and To associate the level of gain in knowledge with demographic variables in experimental group and control group. Methodology: The research design used for this study was quasi experimental design and the 60 samples [30experimental and 30control group] were selected by using non probability convenient sampling technique and the data were collected by using knowledge questionnaire regarding tobacco chewing hazards and its prevention and were analysed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result: The study findings revealed that the % of pre-test knowledge in experimental group is 37.7 % and in control group is 36.9 % where as post-test knowledge in experimental group is 82.2 % and in control group is 42.2 %. The difference between pre-test and post-test is large and is statistically significant [t=36.86 P=0.001]. Statistical significance was calculated by using independent t- test and also shows that there is an association between demographic variables (Age p=0.01, Monthly income p= 0.04 and Marital status p=0.04) with gain in knowledge score of experimental group. Conclusion: The findings of the study has lead the conclusion that the structured teaching programme was effective in increasing the knowledge of adolescents.