Document Type : Original Article
Authors
- . Roy Rillera Marzo
- . Sudip Bhattacharya 1
- . Vikram Niranjan 2
- . Kauseliah Shagaran 3
- . Muhammad Azmer Bin Mohd Idris 3
- . Benjamin Jackson Clement 3
- . Vanishree Raman 3
- . Shereen Anne A/P Sinappanrajah 3
1 Department of Community Medicine, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
2 Department of Health Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
3 Department of Community and Health, Asia Metropolitan University, Cheras, Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: In this era of globalization, urbanization, and rapidly expanding unhygienic food
corners across the globe, the incidence of food poisoning is very common nowadays.
AIM: The aim of our study was to investigate the perceptions and readiness of schoolteachers to
accept notifications on food poisoning as a part of education to the students.
METHODOLOGY: A descriptive cross‑sectional study was carried out with the help of a validated
questionnaire for data collection. Our research involved schoolteachers from both primary and
secondary schools in Muar. The questionnaire was pretested among the eligible trainee teachers
and yielded an internal consistency reliability coefficient (c = Cronbach’s alpha) of 0.082. This study
was conducted from October 29, 2017, to December 14, 2018, in Muar. Our sample size was 259.
Ethical consent was obtained from the Institution Ethical Committee.
RESULTS: A total of 259 schoolteachers from both primary and secondary schools in Muar were
included in this study. In our study, 81.1% of the teachers responded that they can easily educate
their students about food poisoning. Most of them (93.1%) were ready to receive notifications on food
poisoning in any mode, and about 72% of the teachers preferred WhatsApp as their mode of receiving
notification. The least (1.2%) preferred mode of notification was LINE (a social app). Teachers’
willingness to disseminate the information regarding food poisoning was also higher (98.5%).
CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that majority of the schoolteachers had a good perception and
were ready to receive the notifications on food poisoning through WhatsApp as a part of education
to the students.
Keywords
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