Effectiveness of a Knowledge-Oriented Educational Intervention on Air Pollution Health Protection Among Primary School Students: A Pilot Pre-Post Study

Yuankai Lv,1,2,* Yuting Jia,1,* Jiexiang Jing,1,* Renping Liu,2 Lei Wu,3 Bing Shi,2 Su Sun,2 Xueyang Zhang,1 Yibing Jin,1 Xiangdong Yang,1 Mingzhi Zhang,1 Hao Peng1,4 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, MOE Key Laboratory of Geriatric Diseases and Immunology, Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Public Health, Suzhou Industrial Park Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Maternal and Child Health, Suzhou Industrial Park Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Neurology, Taixing Second People’s Hospital, Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Taizhou, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Hao Peng, Department of Neurology, Taixing Second People’s Hospital, Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Taizhou, 225400, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Mingzhi Zhang, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, MOE Key Laboratory of Geriatric Diseases and Immunology, Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Air pollution remains a major global public health challenge, and reducing its harmful health effects is urgent, particularly for children. The objective of this study was to evaluate the preliminary effectiveness of knowledge-oriented education on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of air pollution health protection (APHP) in primary school students.Methods: We conducted a single-arm pre-post intervention study by enrolling 635 primary school students. A two-month knowledge-oriented education intervention was performed through health lectures, educational videos, and the distribution of educational materials. A structured questionnaire was used to assess the KAP of air pollution before and after the intervention.Results: After the intervention, the capability of air pollution protection was significantly improved as suggested by the significantly increased total score of KAP from 83.90± 8.75 to 92.28± 4.75, as well as its components including knowledge (20.45± 3.13 vs 23.20± 2.16), attitudes (31.60± 4.03 vs 34.54± 2.09), and practices (31.84± 4.89 vs 34.52± 2.67) (all P< 0.05). These increments seemed to be more apparent in students who did not live with their parents and those whose mothers had a higher education level.Conclusion: Our pilot study found that KAP of APHP was significantly improved by knowledge-oriented education in primary school students and provided preliminary evidence for its potential effectiveness in the improvement of APHP. A well-designed randomized trial is warranted to demonstrate this effectiveness.Keywords: knowledge-oriented education, air pollution, primary school students, health protection