Effect of Health Educational Intervention on Knowledge and Perceptions of Asthma among Secondary School Students in Ile- Ife, South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Asthma is a major public health problem among adolescents with significant functional disability. Inadequate knowledge and poor perceptions of the disease are highly contributory to its impact. Patients' education is vital in addressing this challenge. The study assessed the level of knowledge and perceptions of asthma and the impact of asthma health education programme among a group of the secondary school students in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. It is a quasi-experimental design study which used a pre-tested 71-item, purpose designed, self-administered questionnaires to collect information on knowledge and perceptions of the respondents on asthma before and after intervention. Data were collated and analyzed based on descriptive and inferential study design. The results of this study showed that perceptions and knowledge of asthma were poor among the group. There was a significant difference in the pre-test and post-test knowledge and perceptions scores of asthma of the secondary school students in the intervention group following health education programme intervention. In addition, the results showed that there was a significant change in knowledge and perceptions of asthma overtime for the participants in the intervention group, over a period of 1 week, 3 weeks and over a period of 6 weeks. We concluded that health educational intervention has significant positive effect on knowledge and perceptions of asthma among secondary school students in Ile-Ife, Osun State, South West, Nigeria.