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BAHRAINI SCHOOL TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE OF ASTHMA |
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| Methods Of the 152 schools throughout the five geographic regions of Bahrain (Muharraq, Manama, Northern area, Central area and Western area) with a total number of 3360 teachers, a random sample of 49 schools representing all categories in the Kingdom of Bahrain (primary, elementary and secondary) was selected. Such selection was done giving appropriate representation to the five regions, and taking into account the number of Bahraini teachers in each school, the type of school, and the locality. All teachers working in each selected school were included in the study. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature a self administered questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire collected information about the school, the teachers' demographic characteristics and their knowledge of bronchial asthma. Sets of 10 statements representing signs, symptoms or complications of asthma were listed in the questionnaire. Four of those 10 statements had incorrect answers, and the teachers' knowledge was so tested. To the series of statements about asthma, the teachers should have answered 'Yes' (agree), 'No' (do not agree), or 'Do not know'. Each blank space was considered a missing value (i.e. teachers did not respond to it). Distributing it to doctors in various specialties and obtaining their feedback, tested the questionnaire's face value and content validity. It was also tested for repeatability by sending it again to the same doctors after a one-week lapse. A pilot study was also done to test the questionnaire. The questionnaires were handed to the teachers and collected from them the next day. A letter was attached to the questionnaire giving the teachers information about the study, its aims, and how to complete. Data were analyzed using the SPSS program version 11.5 and a P value of <0.05 was considered significant. |
Results Of the 1248 teachers included in the sampling, 1140 (89 percent) responded. The general characteristics of non-respondents, including age, gender and types of school were found to be no different than the responders. Of the selected schools, 60 percent were primary level (45 percent of the teachers), 24 percent were intermediate (25 percent of the teachers) and 16 percent were from high schools (30 percent of the teachers). The teachers' ages ranged from 20 to 58 years with a mean of 32.7 years, and 78 percent of them were married. Women accounted for 60 percent. There were 774 teachers who were married and had children, and their families numbered from one to 16 children with a mean of three. The male teachers had more children than the women teachers (65 percent vs 35 percent). Their qualifications included: 81 percent had a graduate education, and 19 percent had a lower qualification (having completed high school). More women than men had higher qualifications (81 percent vs. 70 percent). The duration of their occupation as a teacher ranged between one and 35 years with a mean of 12.3 years. Only 13 percent had worked for more than 20 years. Seven percent of the teachers were smokers who used between two to 60 cigarettes per day with a mean of 20 cigarettes per day. They had smoked for periods ranging from three to 33 years with a mean of 15 years. More men than women were smokers (14 percent vs 0.6 percent). Only 14 teachers admitted to drinking alcohol, of whom all were men. Regular exercise was practiced by only 18 percent of the teachers. Nearly 90 percent of the teachers answered the questions related to their knowledge of asthma. Table 1 shows the number of teachers responding correctly or incorrectly to the questions concerning their asthma knowledge. Many of them did not correctly answer the questions related to false information about the signs and symptoms of asthma. The highest non-response rates included the questions related to false signs and symptoms, which was as high as 20.8 percent. |
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