This a study about the knowledge & health attitudes of school teachers in Bahrain

1. Health attitudes of
school teachers
Faisal A. Latif Alnasir FPC, FRCGP, MICGP, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Family and Community Medicine
Vice Dean, Student Affairs and Premedical Program
College of Medicine and Medical Sciences
Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain

2. School teachers are the major source of
information for students, and are best placed
professionally, to carry out health education at
school
McGovern & Barry, 2000
Educational health packages could be developed
with collaboration between teachers who have
an understanding of the principles of curriculum
design and health professionals who are fully
aware of health problems
Henry et al, 1994

3. Health attitudes of school teachers are
usually a reflection of their background
of health knowledge and perceptions.
They form a group who can influence the
health knowledge and attitude of
students and other population groups.
Their perception of health, attitudes and
practices, and their knowledge of
common health problems could be
essential factors in optimizing their roles
as health educators in society.

4. In Australia teachers and clergy are "gate-
keepers" who might serve as a first line of
assistance for distressed young people
Leane & Shute, 1998
Teachers' behavior during an experience of
illness, how they would react and what
would they do are considered factors which
enrich their attitude and experience.

5. In the United States ninety-five percent of
all children attend elementary or secondary
schools
Iverson & Kolbe,1983
Such schools are considered the primary
vehicles for health-related education in this
sector of the population.
Formal health education teaching in
schools is lacking
Susan et al. 1996

6. Objectives
To assess school teachers' health
attitudes, perceptions and awareness
about the common health problems in
Bahrain.

7. Methods:
49 schools were selected by a stratified random
sampling (out of 152).
1140 teachers responded (out of 1284).
The study tool was a four-item questionnaire
that was pre-tested for content validity and for
repeatability.

8. Information collected related to;
• The school
• The teachers' demographic characteristics
• The teachers’ health attitudes and
knowledge about the five commonest health
problems (sickle cell anemia, bronchial
asthma, diabetes mellitus, hypertension
and smoking).

9. A set of eight to ten questions related to signs,
symptoms and complications of those problems.
Response to the pre-set questions by writing ‘either
Yes’ (agrees), ‘No’ (do not agree) or ‘Do not know’
to the answer.
A score of one was given for the correct answer and
zero for others.
Data were analyzed using the SPSS program version
11.5 and a p value of <0.05 was considered
significant

10. Demographic characteristics:
Respondents 88.8% responded
11.2% didn’t
respond
Sex 40% Male 60% Female
Age 20 to 58 years mean of 32.7
Teaching School 45% Primary 25% intermediate
30%
secondary
Education
81% graduate
females to males
81% vs. 70%
19% high school
Duration of occupation: one to 35 years (mean of 12.3).

11. Smoking (7%) males 14% Females 0.6% P<0.000
Smoking vs
occupation
duration
Increased as
duration
increased
P<0.001
Alcohol
consumption
14 (1.2%) More Male P<0.000
Regular exercise 18%
Teachers’ attitude

12. Teachers' experiences with illness:
Sick family members
28%
More Female teachers
(34% vs. 23%) (P<0.000).
Previous admissions to
hospital
13%
More female teachers
(72% vs. 28%) (p<0.000)
Suffering from a chronic
illness
31 % More male (18% vs. 15%)
Suffered from recent
illnesses (6 months)
16%
Perceptions of their own
health
82% satisfactory
More males (92%
vs.89%).
Perceptions of health
services in the Kingdom
77% satisfactory
More males (80% vs.
70%) (P<0.000).
More married (77% vs.
66%). (P<0.01)

13. Teachers’ knowledge:
Problem
No. of
responders
No. of
question
s
Range Mean Median
Standard
Deviation
Sickle Cell
1053
(92.4%)
10 1-10 4.88 5 1.98
Smoking
1067
(93.6%)
8 1-8 5.28 6 1.852
Asthma
1029
(90.3%)
10 1-10 5.16 5 2.185
Hypertension
969
(85%)
10 1-I0 3 3 1.899
Diabetes
Mellitus
1064
(93.3%)
10 1-10 5.34 5.5 2.133
The knowledge was average in areas related to bronchial asthma, diabetes mellitus
and smoking and poor in the field of sickle cell anemia and hypertension

14. Perceptions of health
Teachers with no recent illnesses perceived their general
health to be satisfactory
(p<0.001)
Teachers who had satisfactory views about their general
health usually had a better or more satisfactory view about
the general health services in the country
(p<0.001)
Teachers with longer duration of occupation had
satisfactory views about the health services in the Kingdom
(p<0.01)
Teachers who suffered from chronic and recent illnesses
had satisfactory views about their general health
(p<0.01)

15. Significant relationships:
Chronic illness and having a family member suffering
from an illness
(61% vs. 39%) (P<0.001)
Teachers suffering from chronic illness admitted more
frequently to hospitals than teachers without chronic
illness
(97% vs. 11%) (P<0.01)
More teachers with a longer duration of occupation
suffered from chronic illnesses than teachers with
shorter durations of occupation
(P<0.02)
Chronic illness and having adequate knowledge of;
-Hypertension
-Diabetes Mellitus
(p<0.05)
(p<0.02)
Teachers with no ill family member had satisfactory
views about their general health more than teachers
with ill family members
(93% vs. 84%) (P<0.001)
Teachers with recent illnesses were more likely to have
ill family members
(42% vs. 23%) (p<0.001)
55% of those who had been admitted to hospital
suffered from a recent illness
(p<0.001)

16. Conclusion:
-Health experiences of teachers were limited.
-The overall knowledge of school teachers was:
•Average for sickle cell anemia, asthma and
Diabetes Mellitus.
•Poor in the area of hypertension
•Adequate knowledge of the negative health
effects of smoking.

17. This would limit the chances of
teachers being a good health model
for their pupils, and pupils will not be
able to acquire and adopt proper
health attitudes or even gain good
health knowledge.

18. Teachers not having enough knowledge of the
signs of health-damaging problems such as
smoking and alcohol use will have difficulty in
recognizing students with those habits or
providing health education in such areas.
Students are less likely to smoke in school
with higher levels of teachers' discipline
Novak & Clayton , 2001

19. Recommendations:
School teachers need continuous pre- and
in-service health training. Although they
may not be given the prime responsibility of
health education, certainly they should
share it.
The teaching institution must also provide
opportunities for the teachers to maintain
adequate health knowledge and an optimal
health attitude.