Perspectives In Medical Research (Dec 2017)
Assessment of Environment friendly behaviour among medical students in Tamil Nadu- A cross-sectional study
Abstract
Introduction The world today faces significant environmental challenges which have been directly or indirectly due to actions of mankind. A pro-active, environmental-friendly behaviour from individuals, communities and policy-makers to protect and prevent further degradation of environment is an immediate need. Materials & Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among second and third year students of a medical college in Tamil Nadu during the period July to August 2016 using a selfadministered questionnaire to assess the individual behaviour and family practices. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Barlett’s test were used to assess sampling adequacy. The responses were expressed as frequencies and percentages. Results: A total of 210 students participated in the study. Individual eco-friendly practices with Likert-type responses were coded for a maximum of 60. Among the total 210 participants, 22.8%, 74.8% and 2.4% achieved high, medium and low scores respectively. The mean score was 35.23 with standard deviation (SD) 6.698. Assessing family practices, for a maximum score of 9, the mean score was 3.7 (SD 1.5). Conclusion: The self-reported behaviour varied between domains. Participants had better practices related to energy-efficiency at home compared to waste reduction, recycling and transport behaviour suggesting the role of other socioeconomic determinants. The relatively poor scores among medical students and their families, a specific population with adequate exposure to environmental education suggest need for more effective measures to inculcate eco-friendly behaviour
