Effectiveness of teacher's training program for tobacco control in schools of Lucknow: A Quasi-experimental study

Teachers play a crucial role in influencing the attitudes and behaviors of their students. Their knowledge, attitude, and practice towards tobacco use, have a direct impact on strict implementation of School Tobacco Control Policies. The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the teacher's training program, Choose Health by Avoiding Tobacco (CHAT) for tobacco control measures in schools of Lucknow.

The study was a Quasi experimental study conducted among 120 school teachers from six Government High Schools in Lucknow. An interactive training session on various tobacco-related topics was conducted. Knowledge gained was assessed by comparing post-test scores with pre-test scores. McNemar's test was employed to assess change in knowledge before, after, and after 1 month of the training program. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the mean of pre-, post-, and follow-up test scores.

The prevalence of tobacco use was 21.7% among the participating school teachers. The female teachers did not consume tobacco in any form. There was a significant improvement in the mean post-test score as compared to the pre-test score (P < 0.001), with no significant attrition of knowledge gained after one month. A 94.2% of the participants reported that the training session conducted has motivated them to quit tobacco use. Evaluation of the six participating schools on their compliance with the "Tobacco Free Educational Institute" (ToFEI) Guidelines, demonstrated some improvement in implementation of these guidelines within two months of the training session as compared to baseline observations.

The present study showed that the CHAT interactive educational intervention program was effective in improving knowledge related to tobacco and its laws to protect minors from the tobacco epidemic. The intervention also resulted in a high level of motivation among teachers to choose a tobacco-free life.