Knowledge and attitude on ill effects of smoking among adults residing in Lekhnath, Kaski, Nepal

Abstract

Background: Worldwide opinion says, “Smoking is injurious to health”. It is positively injurious in many ways not only to the health of smoker but also to the health of the people around him or her known as the passive smokers. The three main components of inhaled cigarette smoke are nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar, which can cause disease. If this nicotine is absorbed in the blood stream and left within 10 seconds it increases the heart rate and blood pressure by stimulating the release of hormones such as adrenaline and constricting blood vessels [1]. Aim: To assess knowledge and attitude on ill effects of smoking among adults residing in Lekhnath municipality, ward no.12, Khudi, Kaski”. Material & Method: A survey approach with the descriptive design was selected to achieve the objectives of the study. Convenient sampling technique was used to select the samples. The sample size was 100 adults of 20 years & above. Data was collected from 10/03/2013-10/04/2013 by interview technique regarding ill effects of smoking by using questionnaire and finally the data was analyzed using Excel 2007 & SPSS for Windows Version 16.0. Results: The major findings of the present study were as follows: Most of the participants (58%) were having good level of knowledge, 31% were having average level of knowledge and remaining 11% were having poor level of knowledge towards ill effects of smoking. Majority of participants had favorable attitude (81%) towards ill effects of smoking. The correlation between knowledge and attitude was found to be positive at the significance level of P>0.01.Significant association of knowledge was found with gender, marital status and education level regarding ill effects of smoking. Significant association of attitude was found with family type and source of information regarding ill effects of smoking. Conclusion: Hence, still few people residing in the community are having poor knowledge and attitude on ill effects of smoking, so more efforts are needed to make people aware about it in order to prevent our society completely from the clutch of this evil addiction.