KNOWLEDGE REGARDING EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS AMONG THE PEOPLE OF BIRATNAGAR SUB-METROPOLIS OF EASTERN NEPAL

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1 KNOWLEDGE REGARDING EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS AMONG THE PEOPLE OF BIRATNAGAR SUB-METROPOLIS OF EASTERN NEPAL 1* 2 3 Pokharel A, Parajuli P, Parajuli SB Affiliation 1. Dirict Public Health Office, Kathmandu, Nepal 2. Professor, Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, College of Nursing, B.P. Koirala Initute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Sunsari, Nepal 3. Lecturer, Department of Community Medicine, Birat Medical College & Teaching Hospital, Morang, Nepal A R T I C L E I N F O Article Hiory Received : 20 May, 2017 Accepted : 1 July, 2017 Published : 30 Augu, 2017 Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of fir publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License CC - BY 4.0 that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. ORA 31 * Corresponding Author Alpha Pokharel Dirict Public Health Office, Kathmandu, Nepal alphapokharel@gmail.com Citation Pokharel A, Parajuli P, Parajuli SB. Knowledge Regarding Earthquake Preparedness Among The People of Biratnagar Sub-metropolis of Eaern Nepal. BJHS 2017;2 (2)3 : ABSTRACT Introduc on Earthquake preparedness is necessary rategy and ac on that is done before an earthquake happens in order to decrease mortality and morbidity. Earthquake in Nepal killed more than 8000 people in 201. Increased number of deaths were mainly considered due to lack of earthquake preparedness and necessary safety measures. Objec ves The aim of this udy was to assess the knowledge regarding earthquake preparedness and to find out rela onship between the level of knowledge and with their selected socio-demographic variables. Methodology A cross sec onal udy was conducted among the people residing in ward number 11 and 18 of Biratnagar sub-metropolis from 1 July to 1 October 201. Wards were selected through simple random sampling and 110 par cipants were selected through convenient sampling. Each par cipant had completed an interviewer-adminiered ques onnaire. Descrip ve and inferen al a s cs was applied for data analysis. Result Among 110 par cipants, 1.8% had knowledge score between 1% to 7%, 24.% had knowledge score below 0% and only 23.% had knowledge score above 7%. This research showed that there was significant rela onship between knowledge and age, marital atus, educa onal atus, occupa on and monthly income. Par cipants from 20 to 39 year had more knowledge score than par cipants from 40 to 0 years. The higher the educa onal atus; more was the knowledge score. Unmarried par cipants had more knowledge score than married par cipants and business holders had more knowledge score than other occupa on category. Conclusion Earthquake preparedness knowledge among par cipants was inadequate. Therefore, educa onal interven on program regarding this is required in these areas. KEY WORDS Earthquake, knowledge, Nepal 201 Birat Journal of Health Sciences ISSN: (Print) (Online)

2 INTRODUCTION An earthquake is the percep ble shaking of the surface of the earth, which can be violent enough to deroy major buildings and kill thousands of people. The recent massive th deruc ve earthquake occurred in Nepal on 2 April, 201 AD with the magnitude of 7.8 Richter scale. Another major th earthquake was felt on 12 May, 201 AD of 7.2 Richter scale. These earthquakes killed more than 8000 people in Nepal 1-4 and injured more than Earthquake preparedness is necessary ac on and rategy that is implemented before an earthquake happens and is done in order to prevent hazards and casualty during an earthquake. Preparedness efforts also aim at ensuring that the resources necessary for responding effec vely in the event of a disaer are in place, and one should know how to use those resources. The ac vi es that are commonly associated with disaer preparedness include developing planning processes to ensure readiness; formula ng disaer plans; ockpiling resources necessary for effec ve response; and developing skills and competencies to ensure effec ve performance of disaer-related tasks. However, people in both developing and developed countries do not u lize these ac ons. In a developed country like China knowledge regarding earthquake preparedness was only found to be 1% and level of educa on was found to be significantly associated 7 with it. In a udy at Dhaka of Bangladesh, the majority of the 8 par cipants were not prepared for a major earthquake. This data along with other research udy documents that people in developing countries are six mes more likely to die from 9 earthquake than the people in developed country. Nepal is a seismic prone country and the risk it faces from earthquakes are very high. Pa records have shown that Nepal can expect two earthquakes of 7.-8 Richter scale every forty years and one earthquake of magnitude of 8+ Richter scale every eighty 4 years. The preparedness level of Kathmandu ci zen (n=430) was only found to be 0.3% although 92.% of the par cipants had expressed their concern regarding earthquake 9 preparedness. A posi ve correla on between earthquake knowledge and earthquake prepara on indicated that par cipants with more earthquake preparedness knowledge 10 were more likely to be prepared for earthquake. Considering the knowledge and negligence about earthquake preparedness as a key factor to prevent the hazards and casual es by earthquake next me and to contribute something towards up-li men of this worse condi on of country, researchers were intereed in udy related to knowledge regarding earthquake preparedness. The objec ves of the udy were to assess the knowledge about earthquake preparedness among the people of selected ward of Biratnagar and to find out the rela onship between the knowledge score and with their selected sociodemographic variables. METHODOLOGY A community based cross sec onal udy was conducted among 110 par cipants residing in ward number 11 and 18 of Biratnagar sub-metropolis of Morang Dirict in Eaern Nepal from 1 July to 1 October 201. Simple random sampling technique using lo ery method without replacement was used to select the wards, and par cipants were selected using non-probability convenience sampling method. Sample size was calculated by using the formula [N= z²p (1-p)/ d²], prevalence rate of (1%) was used for this udy at 9% confidence interval and 10% degree of precision. Sample size was divided equally among the two wards. Par cipants over the age of 20 years and both gender and only one par cipant from each family were included in the udy. Par cipants who were seriously ill during the data collec on period were excluded from the udy. Ethical approval was taken from concerned authority of Nobel Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Biratnagar. The permission to conduct research was also taken from the local ward office. The confiden ality was maintained by coding the par cipants name in the ques onnaire, without disclosing the par cipants informa on to others. Informed consent was taken from par cipants prior to data collec on. Newly formed interviewer adminiered ques onnaire was used and its validity and reliability was teed. Pretes ng of these ques onnaires was done in 10% of sample in ward number 10 and these data were not included in final udy. Ques onnaire was categorised into 2 parts: Socio-demographic informa on (10 ques ons) and knowledge based ructured ques onnaire regarding earthquake, earthquake preparedness, property protec on preparedness during earthquake and life protec on preparedness during earthquake (20 ques ons in total). Each correct answer was scored as one and a wrong answer scored as zero. The maximum score was 20. The score of knowledge was converted into percentage and categorised into below 0%, 1% to 7% and 7% above. Collected data was entered in Microso Excel and analysed by SPSS version 17. Data was presented by using both descrip ve and inferen al a s cs (t te and one way ANOVA te). The P value was considered significiant at 9% confidence interval. ISSN: (Print) (Online) Birat Journal of Health Sciences 202

3 RESULT Table 1: Socio-demography profile of udy par cipants (n=110) Figure 1: Knowledge score of par cipant(n=110) Percentage of Participants Below 0% 1 to 7% Above 7% Knowledge Score Figure 1 shows that 1.8% of par cipants had knowledge score between 1 to 7% followed by 24.% of the par cipants had knowledge score below 0% and 23.% of the par cipants with knowledge score above 7%. Where as the mean knowledge score was 12.9 ±3.4 and mean knowledge percentage was 4.77% ± Table 2: Rela onship between knowledge and elected variables (n=110) Table 1 represents socio-demography of udy par cipants. Out of 110 par cipants, 3.4% were of age group years with equal gender diribu on. Majority (70%) was married and 4.4% of par cipants were of rela vely disadvantage non-dalit terai group. Majority (91.8%) were Hindu and from joint family (7.3%). Majority of par cipants were illiterate and 31.8% of par cipants were household worker. Majority (41.8%) had income of range NRS Majority (88.2%) of par cipants had their own home. All the par cipants were exposed to earthquake but no one had exposure to any training on earthquake preparedness. * One way ANOVA ** t-te 203 Birat Journal of Health Sciences ISSN: (Print) (Online)

4 Table 2 shows there was a s cally significant rela onship between knowledge and age, marital atus, educa onal atus, occupa on and monthly income where as there was no a s cally significant rela onship between knowledge and sex, ethnicity, religion, family type and home ownership. Age group had more knowledge score than other age group and unmarried par cipants had more knowledge score than married par cipant. The more the educa onal level, higher was the knowledge score where as knowledge score was seen more among the business holder than other occupa onal category. DISCUSSION This research finding revealed that the mean knowledge percentage of the par cipants was 4.77%. Majority of par cipant(1.8%) had knowledge score between 1 to 7%. Similar cross sec onal udy showed that.1% of Tehran resident had knowledge score below 0% which is in contra with the result of this udy. This difference may be due to different format of ques onnaires used. This udy showed significant rela onship between knowledge and age (p<0.01) which is supported by udy conducted by Mahmoud Nekoei Moghadam et al in Iran where significant rela onship between age and knowledge was found 11 (p=0.001). Knowledge was found to be more among the younger age group par cipants which is also supported by the udy conducted in Iran. In contra to this udy, the udy conducted by Oral M et al in Turkey revealed no a s cal significance between age and knowledge, this might be due to different format of ques onnaire used and research conducted in Turkey was done in the area where earthquake had caused massive damage. In this udy there was no significant rela onship between knowledge and sex (p=0.702) and this result was supported 12 by udy conducted by Tuladhar G et al 201 in Nepal. Although in both of the udies, knowledge was not a s cally significant with sex but knowledge score was slightly more among the male par cipants in both of the udies. In contra to this, udy conducted by Oad Taghizadeh A et al in 2009 revealed that the knowledge score was more among the female par cipants and this difference might be due to different educa onal atus among the female par cipants. This udy showed significant rela onship between knowledge and marital atus (p=0.002) which was supported by udy conducted by Mahmoud M et al which showed significant associa on between marital atus and 11 knowledge (p=0.001). This udy revealed significant rela onship between knowledge and educa onal atus (p<0.000) which was supported by udy conducted by Tekeli-Yesil S et al at Ianbul which showed significant rela onship between knowledge and educa onal atus 13 (p=< 0.001). It was further supported by udy conducted by Oad Taghizadeh A et al in All of these udies revealed that, the more the educa onal atus, the higher the knowledge scores. Sta s cally significant rela onship between knowledge and occupa on (p<0.00)was revealed in this udy, which was supported by udy conducted by Oad Taghizadeh A et al in Tehran which showed significant associa on between knowledge and occupa on (p=0.040). Home ownership was not a s cally significant with knowledge in this udy (p=0.27) which was also supported by udy conducted by Oad Taghizadeh A et al in Tehran(p=0.949). However, it was contraed by udy conducted by Oral M et al in Turkey which showed significant associa on between knowledge and home ownership. As the udy in Turkey was udy was conducted in area which has suained great infraructure damage by recent earthquake, increased knowledge scores among property owners was more which is in contra with this udy. CONCLUSION The findings of this udy revealed that people residing in Biratnagar sub-metropolis didn't have sa sfactory knowledge scores regarding earthquake preparedness. Educa onal atus was one of the major factor associated to increase the knowledge regarding earthquake preparedness. RECOMMENDATION To mi gate the damage from future earthquakes, it will be important to increase the people's educa onal atus as well as their knowledge about earthquake preparedness. Interven on targeted to increase the knowledge regarding regarding earthquake preparedness is recommended. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY This udy could not be generalised in large popula on due to small sample size. ACKNOWLEDGMENT We would like to acknowledge all par cipants for their support, me and par cipa on, without them, this udy would not have been possible. CONFLICT OF INTEREST We declare no conflict of intere. ISSN: (Print) (Online) Birat Journal of Health Sciences 204

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