A school-based education concerning poisoning prevention in Isfahan, Iran
Volume 4, Issue 1, Winter 2014, Pages 1-5
. Javad Kebriaee-zadeh, . Leila Safaeian, . Solmaz Salami, . Farnaz Mashhadian, . Gholam-hossein Sadeghian
Abstract Background: A school-based poisoning prevention program for young school children was
implemented and evaluated in Isfahan city by Poison Control Center (PCC) of Food and
Drug Deputy in 2010. Objectives: The aim of the program was to evaluate the effectiveness
of education on children’s knowledge on poisoning and its consequence and also on their
attitude in case of exposure to poisonous or hazardous substances and poisoned patient.
Materials and Methods: In a pretest-posttest design, samples of 520 students from the fifth
grade (10-11 years old), from twenty randomly selected girls’ and boys’ primary schools
were involved in the study. These children were from two different geographical locations
with different socio-economical levels (high-income and middle-income). After collection
of pretest questionnaires, 6 poisoning education sessions were implemented in selected
schools by trained teachers in a week. Results: Following the education program, knowledge
on various issues of poisoning significantly improved as did attitude to the poisonous
agents and poisoned patients. In girl students, strong increase was found in knowledge
on poisoning with carbon monoxide and heating devices from pretest to posttest. While in
boy students, the strongest increase was in item of knowledge on poisoning prevention.
Children living in the regions with middle-income conditions had more base-line knowledge
and attitudinal aspect when compared with children with high-income condition. Comparison
of all students showed significant differences (P < 0.001) on knowledge scores on various
issues of poisoning before and after education. Conclusion: The school-based educational
programs provide a good opportunity to poison information centers in preventing poisoning.