Knowledge, attitude and practise about tobacco use among school personnel in Dharamshala city: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The primary objective was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of school personnel of tobacco use and its effect in school-based tobacco intervention for making tobacco free educational institutions (TOFEI) and tobacco free society.Methods: The sampling used was probability stratified random sampling. The data collections were done by self-administered prevalidated World Health Organization (WHO) global school personnel survey (GSPS) questionnaire.Results: Majority of participants were from 40-49 years of age (44.4%) representing both from the government and private schools. Out of total school personnel 69.4% were female and 30.4% were male. Majority of the school personnel were teachers (91.8%) followed by principals 3.6%. Majority of the teachers had good knowledge and attitude.Conclusions: A better compliance always leads to better enforcement. This compliance can be further enhanced by creating uniform policies for schools for better enforcement on tobacco control. It is important to understand the role of each school personnel with their shared responsibility in advocacy and enforcement of already existing tobacco control laws.