Municipal street sweepers are exposed to large amount of dusts, microorganisms, toxins and automobile exhaust pollution. Chronic inhalation of such particulate matter has the potential to impair their pulmonary functions. The strict adherence to the standards and norms for the management of municipal solid wastes to reduce occupational health hazards in developing countries India is still a matter of concern. This study conducted among the municipal sweepers of Chitradurga district, compared the effects of chronic exposure to dust on the pulmonary function using spirometry test. This study also assessed the effects of smoking and irregular usage of protection masks, and compared the results with the healthy controls. Respiratory symptoms of cough (30%), chest pain (17.5%), catarrah and sneezing (21.5%) were found to be in higher percentage among the municipal street sweepers than the controls. Only 20% of participants municipal street sweepers used personal protective measures, wearing protective masks, regularly in the past 1 year, during sweeping streets. It was found that FEV1, FEV1/FVC, PEFR and FEF 25%-75% were significantly lesser among non-smoker street sweepers, when compared with that of non-smoking controls. Similarly these PFT values were significantly reduced among the smoker street sweepers and among the sweepers who didn't use protective masks while sweeping. This study highlights the occupational hazard faced by municipal sweepers and attempts to emphasize on importance of usage of protective masks.

Background and Purpose of the study: Pulmonary rehabilitation for patients with COPD is well established and widely accepted as a means to alleviate symptoms and optimize functional status, increase participation, and reduce health care costs by stabilizing or reversing systemic manifestations of the disease. It is a form of rehabilitation dealing with respiratory disorders and limited participation in daily life. Pulmonary rehabilitation includes patient education, exercise training, psychosocial support and advice on nutrition. Pulmonary rehabilitation has been shown to improve exercise capacity, reduce breathlessness, improve health-related quality of life, and decrease healthcare utilization. Pulmonary rehabilitation should be offered to all patients who consider themselves functionally disabled by COPD4. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often decrease their physical activity because exercise can worsen dyspnea. The progressive deconditioning associated with inactivity initiates a vicious cycle, with dyspnea becoming problematic at ever lower physical demands. Pulmonary rehabilitation aims to break the cycle. Objectives: 1) To assess the level of knowledge regarding pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD patients among nursing students. 2) To find out the effectiveness of planned teaching programme regarding pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD patients among nursing students. 3) To find out the association between the pre-test knowledge regarding pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD patients with selected socio demographic variables. Approach: Evaluative approach was selected for the study. Design: Quasi-experimental (one group pretest and posttest) was selected for the study. Subjects: 50 nursing students. Sampling Technique: A purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample for study. Data Collection Tool: A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the subjects. Data Analysis: The obtained data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and interpreted in terms of objectives and hypothesis of the study. The level of significance was set at 0.05 levels. Results: 88% of the nursing students obtained adequate level of information and 6% had a moderate level of knowledge. None of the staff nurses possessed inadequate level of knowledge Conclusion: In the pretest the subjects had an inadequate knowledge where as in the post test all the subjects had gained adequate knowledge. The study findings indicate that PPT was effective enhancing the knowledge of nursing students regarding pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD patients.

This study to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme regarding prevention of pneumonia among mothers of under five children in selected rural area at Bangalore to assess the existing knowledge regarding prevention of pneumonia among mothers of under five children. An evaluative research approach with one group pretest posttest design in quasi-experimental design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the STP. This study was conducted in Jeetipalya and Thavereker at Bangalore. The population for this study consisted of mothers of under five children. Random sampling technique by lottery method was used to select 60 samples. The tool used for the data collection was structured knowledge interview questionnaire which comprised of 11 items on demographic data and 30 items on prevention of pneumonia among mothers of under five children. The reliability of the tool was established by Split Half technique, with ‘r’=0.88. Major findings of the study were: Regarding the existing knowledge of the mothers of under five children regarding prevention of pneumonia, there was a lack of knowledge in all aspects of prevention of pneumonia. The overall pretest mean knowledge was 12.75 and post test mean knowledge was 20.67, with mean percent enhancement of knowledge score as 7.91 which was statistically significant as observed between pre and post test score with paired‘t’ test 27.82 at 0.05 level. Hence H 1 is accepted. In pretest there was significant association between the knowledge of mothers of under five children with their selected demographic variables like educational status, occupational status, family history of pneumonia and relationship with the child was significant at P and lt; 0.05 level regarding prevention of pneumonia. Hence the findings revealed that a structured teaching programme was effective in enhancement of the knowledge of the mothers of under five children regarding prevention of pneumonia and to prevent occurrence of these infectious diseases.

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