An Assessment into Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of the Effects and Control of Dust Raised During Sweeping Among Women in Bindura Rural
- Author
- Chibhanguza Moreblessing
- Title
- An Assessment into Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of the Effects and Control of Dust Raised During Sweeping Among Women in Bindura Rural
- Abstract
-
Background: Dust raised during sweeping can have detrimental effects on. people’s health and on plant foliage get clogged thus affecting vital processes such as photosynthesis and respiration. Furthermore, sweeping yards can enhance the erosion of soil by runoff. In spite of the known effects of dust, most women continue to sweep their yards without following dust protection and suppression protocols thus running the risk of exposure to dust. This study seeks to find out whether this behavior by women is a result of lack of knowledge or poor attitudes that result in bad practices so that policy makers and other stakeholders can design appropriate interventions
Materials and Methods: The study made use of a cross sectional descriptive survey design to collect data from 120 respondents with the use of a standardized questionnaire. The questionnaire contained information on socio-democratic variables, Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices towards sweeping dust and its health and environmental effects. Data were analysed in SPSS version 21 to generate frequencies on each KAP question. A preferred response was awarded a score of 1 and a wrong response was assigned a value of Zero, thus generating mean scores of each KAP question. The Pearson’s chi square was used to determine the relationship between KAP and socio-economic variables
Results: The total number of respondents was 120. The majority (92%) were female. Most of the respondents (31%) were in the age range of 36-45 years and the least (11%) were in the > 56 years group. Most (80%) respondents were married and the majority (66%) had attained secondary school educational level. Results indicate that the mean score for knowledge was 0.62 or 62%, mean score for attitude was 0.3 or 30% and the mean score for practice was 0.14 or 14%. This means that 60% of the respondents were knowledgeable about the health and environmental effects of dust and how to mitigate them. It also means that 30% of respondents had a positive attitude towards the health and environmental effects of dust and measures of mitigation whilst only 14% exercised good practices in order to avoid the health and environmental effects of dust and control measures. There was no association between KAP and socio-economic variables.
Conclusion: The study concludes that in the study area, knowledge was fairly high with a mean score of attitudes were very poor with a mean score of and practices were very poor. It can also be concluded that having knowledge alone is not a sufficient condition to assure good practice.
- Date
- June 2024
- Publisher
- BUSE
- Keywords
- Attitudes
-
Dust
Zimbabwe -
Sweeping
Bindura Rural - Supervisor
- Mr. T. Nyamugure
- Item sets
- Department of Crop Sciences
- Media
-
Chibhanguza - SHEM.pdf