Table I- Analysis of effectiveness of both communication media in Professional groups by Paired t test. (Score is out of 36 marks)

Professional Groups with

Communication Mode

Pretest Mean

Score⁺ SEM

Posttest Mean

Score⁺ SEM

Paired t

value

Lab Technicians

Booklet

23.3 ⁺0.605

22.4 ⁺0.648

32.8 ⁺0.442

29.5 ⁺0.603

24.0

13.7

<0.0001

Computer operators

Booklet

20.3 ⁺0.718

20.3 ⁺0.958

30.4 ⁺0.455

27.0 ⁺0.785

17.8

10.6

<0.0001

Bank Employees

Booklet

20.4 ⁺0.735

19.6 ⁺0.893

30.0 ⁺0.616

26.2 ⁺0.768

34.9

17.4

<0.0001

Table II- Comparison of efficacies of both communication media within Professional groups by Unpaired t tests.

Professional Groups with

Communication Mode

Mean Difference

with SEM

Unpaired t value

value

Lab Technicians

Booklet

9.52 ⁺0.3963

7.040 ⁺0.5147

3.818

0.0004

Computer operators

Booklet

10.92 ⁺0.5682

6.320 ⁺0.5122

6.012

<0.0001

Bank Employees

Booklet

9.640 ⁺0.2762

6.380 ⁺ 0.3682

6.429

<0.0001

P value: ***P<0.0001 considered as significant, **p<0.01, *p<0.05

Graph 1 -Data of allergic patients through professional's group

Table III- Comparison of impact of CD amongst all professional groups by ANOVA.

ANOVA Table

Communication mode

F value

F (Critical value)

P value

CD

Booklet

3.25

0.586

<3.15

<0.05*

0.559ns

P value: ***P<0.0001 considered as significant, **p<0.01, *p<0.05, ns: Not significiant

Pollen, Dust mites, Mold spores, Pet dander, Food (dairy products), Insect stings and few Medicines acts as allergens^(8). Allergies can cause a runny nose, sneezing, itching, rashes, swelling or asthma. Symptoms vary. Belgaum is the district (Karnataka state) where humidity is quite high (20-50%).Mold is the commonest problem in rainy season. Mold spores may cause allergic reactions or asthma attacks in sensitive people. Study was carried out with the following objectives.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To develop awareness and prevention of Hygiene, Allergy and Aspergillosis among the respondents.

2. To develop communication media specifically

i. Multimedia package-CD

ii. Booklet-reading material

3 To study the effectiveness of each communication media.

4 To compare the efficacies of both types of communication media.

5 To ascertain the degree of retention obtained.

6 To identify persons who are at special risk of Allergy and Aspergillosis.

The educational survey was conducted by following hypotheses

HYPOTHESIS-(Null Hypotheses):

Hn1: uD=0 (Null Hypotheses)

There is no significant difference in the knowledge of respondents about the science of Allergy and Aspergillosis before exposing them to the multimedia CD and after exposoure to it.

Ha1: uD>0 (Alternative hypotheses)

The exposure of multimedia CD is effective in improving the knowledge of respondents about the Allergy and Aspergillosis.

Hn2: uD=0(Null Hypotheses)

There is no significant difference in the knowledge of respondents about the science of Allergy and Aspergillosis before exposing them to the booklet and after exposure to it.

Ha2: uD>0(Alternative hypotheses)

The booklet (reading material) is effective in improving the knowledge of respondents about the Allergy and Aspergillosis.

Hn3: uD=0(Null Hypotheses)

There is no significant difference in the two types of media in improving the knowledge of respondents about the Allergy and Aspergillosis.

Ha3: uD>0(Alternative hypotheses)

There is significant difference in the two types of media in improving the knowledge of respondents about the Allergy and Aspergillosis.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

The study was conducted during2006-2008in various professional groups at Belgaum. district , Karnataka. Respondents from – Computer Operators, Bank Employees and Lab –Technicians were involved. ( 50 from each group). Respondent size was 150.Respondent size was decided on population size which was necessary for the community survey. Directors of the respective field and Bank Managers were consulted and briefed about the purpose of study, their consent was also taken.

Communication mode- Multimedia CD and reading material- Booklet for the dissemination of knowledge about Hygiene, Microbiological world, Allergy and Aspergillosis were prepared after extensive references.^{(2,4,5,6,7,,9)}.

CD included the information about “Advantages and disadvantages of Microbes, Allergies, Types and symptoms of allergies, Preventions, Introduction to Fungus(Molds), mold allergy and Hygiene” More focus was kept on Sanitation and Prevention which is the utmost need of society. The main message was “CLEAN CITY-HEALTHY CITY” These were narrated in a very effective way with the help of suitable Pictures, Animations and Sound. Duration of CD was 40 min. Treatment part was purposely avoided and people were asked to contact Doctors and not to neglect.

A self administered structured questionnaire was designed to assess the knowledge of the respondents about ‘Allergy, Different allergens, fungal spores, Microorganisms, Role of microorganisms and Sanitation and Prevention’. For each question, multiple-choice answers were given and asked the students to tick the all-possible correct options. Total 30 questions were included in the questionnaire.

A few questions from questionnaire are as follows-

· Are you aware of Microorganisms?

i. No ii. Yes

· Are microbes present in the dust?

i. Yes ii. No

· How will you minimize dust?

i. By disturbance ii. By sprinkling water on the ground

iii. By cutting trees iv. By opening the windows.

· The purpose of washing hands before taking food is

i. To remove sweat ii. To remove dust

iii. To remove dust and microbes iv. To keep your hands healthy.

· In which advertisement do you see microbes?

i. Shampoo ii. Tooth Paste iii. Surf iv. Dettol

· What will you use to remove mold from your house?

i. Bleaching powder ii. Cosmetic solution iii. Detergents iv. DDT powder

· Which of the following are general symptoms of allergic respiratory diseases?

i. Coughing, Breathlessness, uneasiness ii. Swelling of the legs

iii. Loss of weight iv. Redness of eyes

· Toxin produced by Aspergillus is

i Alfa toxin ii Afla toxin iii Beta toxin iv epsilon

· Substances that causes Allergy are called

i Mutagen ii Carcinogen iii Allergen iv Toxin

Questions regarding personal information with family history of allergy (if any) were also included in the questionnaire.

The respondents first filled the pretest questionnaire. Then these students were exposed to the communication media either CD (Documentary) or Booklet as per the schedule. After 2 days these students were asked to fill the separate copy of questionnaire as a posttest. Pretest and posttest questionnaires were analyzed. The total score was out of 36 marks. The data was processed and analyzed by statistical methods like Paired t test, unpaired t of mean difference and ANOVA test were used.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

When the same group of individual takes a pretest is exposed to a treatment and then is retested to determine whether the influence of the treatment has been statistically significant they are said to be dependent variables.

1 From figure-1- from survey it was observed that 60% respondents were familiar with the term Allergyand Allergens but only 20% knew the mold allergy (Allergic Aspergillosis). 90% respondents were aware of Microorganisms, 80% respondents were aware that dust could be minimized by sprinkling water on the ground or mopping the floor but only 40 % were familiar with the HEPA filter.61% respondents knew the microbiocidal effect of Dettol but 75% for Toothpaste (through advertisements on TV!). 56% of respondents were agree that the unwanted GHOST- Fungi is the culprit ofr bread but only 22.6% knew the most abundant fungi spores ‘Aspergilli’ could be dangerous to sensitive people.56% respondents think that house mold could be removed by detergents but only 5% knew that Bleaching solution would be the best.22% knew about mycotoxin-Aflatoxin. Respondents had good knowledge about food preservation such as 48% knew about the pasteurization of milk, refrigeration of food.

2 From Table1, the P value is significant for all groups. So the null hypothesis Hn1 and Hn2 are rejected and alternative hypothesis Ha1 and Ha2 are accepted. Thus we conclude that multimedia-CD and reading material-Booklet are effective in improving the knowledge of respondent about the Allergy and Aspergillosis in professional’s group.

3 From Table 2, the P value is significant in all groups so the null hypothesis Hn3 is rejected and alternative hypothesis Ha3 is accepted. Thus we conclude that multimedia CD is more effective in creating awareness about Allergy and Aspergillosis than Booklet in professional groups.

4 From Table 3, P is significant in professional-CD group so we conclude that all professional groups have shown different level of knowledge gain by CD.

5 From Table 3, P is not significant in Booklet group so we conclude that all professional groups have shown approximately equal knowledge gain by booklet.

7 From Graph 2- Dust (65%) acts as a major allergen in the environment followed by Metal/Chemical (15%), Food (11%) and Pollen ( 9%).

CONCLUSION:

Thus there is a definite need of strengthening the knowledge of the respondents regarding air filtering devices, preventive measures, fungal spores, mycotoxins. “Good score” items need to be strengthened while “Poor score” items need to be corrected.

It was observed that multimedia CD was found to be more efficient (20%-25%) and attractive in disseminating the knowledge regarding the Allergy and Aspergillosis so popular media like films / documentary need to contribute for awareness programmes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

We wish to thank Prof. M D Mallapur Dept of Preventive and Community Medicine J N Medical College Belgaum for his help in Statistical analysis.

REFERENCES:

1. D P Andrulis .(2000) Community, service, and policy strategies to improve health care access in the changing urban environment. Am J Public Health. June; 90(6): 858–862.

2. Hesselmar B, Aberg N, Aberg B, Eriksson B, Björkstén B, (1999) Does early exposure to cat or dog protect against later allergy development? Clin Exp Allergy. May; 29(5): 611-7.

3. J H Abramson, Z H Abramson, “Survey methods in Community medicine”, 5^th Edition,Churchill Livingstone.

4. Mathers, Nigel, Yu Chu Huang,(2007) Evaluating Public Health Research in Different Countries Asia Pac J Public Health, Mar ; vol. 19: pp. 1-2

5. Ponsonby AL, Kemp A, Dwyer T, et al. (2002) Feather bedding and house dust mite sensitization and airway disease in childhood. J Clin Epidemiol ; 55: 556-562.

6. Raj Kumar, Jitendra, K Nagar, (2008) Indoor air pollution and respiratory function of children in Ashok Vihar, Delhi: An exposure response study. Asia Pac J Public Health, Jan ; vol. 20(1): pp. 36-48

7. William Kelly, Gregory Argyros, Richard F Lockey, Rohit K Katial,(2006) Allergic and Environmental Asthma , May 30, <PubMed>

8. Wood RA. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD (2002) Air filtration devices in the control of indoor allergens. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. Sep;2(5):397-400.

9. Websites-

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclpedia.htm

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages.htm

http://www.iscos.org/vol3/rp1.htm

Received on 02.09.2009

Accepted on 06.09.2009

Research J. Science and Tech. 1(1): July-Aug. 2009: 25-28