Effectiveness of educational pamphlet on knowledge regarding computer vision syndrome among higher primary children in a selected urban school Mangalore

Abstract

In the 21st century the use of computers increased tremendously. Computer plays a valuable role in increasing the efficiency and accuracy of several works. But excessive use of computers has brought several risks, especially eye diseases. Children are not exception to the context. They have the nature of adopting the things what they see. Therefore kids show equal interest in TV and computers. Hence in the present scenario children are equally being affected with computer vision syndrome. Education is a strong building block in building a stronger and healthier community. The importance of school education lies in the fact that the children of today will become adult citizens of tomorrow. Aim: The overall aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of educational pamphlet on computer vision syndrome among higher primary school children. Method: One group pre-test post-test design was adopted in the present study to accomplish the objectives. The researcher herself developed the self-structured knowledge questionnaire to assess the knowledge of the higher primary school children on computer vision syndrome followed by educational pamphlet. The reliability of the tool was tested using Split-half method. The tool was found reliable (r=0.857; p<0.05). Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of 120 higher primary school children from urban area. Results: The findings of the study revealed that majority (55%) of the higher primary school children gained moderately adequate knowledge and 33% of the higher primary school children gained adequate knowledge regarding computer vision syndrome.The post-test knowledge score (14.24± 5.19) was higher than the pre-test knowledge score (6.68±3.35). Paired ‘t’ test was used to find the effectiveness educational pamphlet on CVS. The calculated ‘t’ value in knowledge (10.13, p<0.05) was greater than the table value (t120=1.98) at 0.05 level of significance. This showed that the gain in knowledge was significant after administering educational pamphlet Association between pre-test knowledge score with demographic variables revealed that there was significant association between the pre-existing knowledge scores with the selected demographic variables on computer vision syndrome. Interpretation and conclusion: The present study revealed that the higher primary school children lacked knowledge on computer vision syndrome and the overall findings of the study proved that there was highly significant increase in the knowledge of higher primary school children on CVS following the administration of the educational pamphlet. Therefore, it was concluded that the educational pamphlet on CVS was highly effective in improving the knowledge of higher primary school children on computer vision syndrome.