KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS NOISE AMONG STUDENTS OF UKM KUALA LUMPUR CAMPUS

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and behaviour towards noise among students of UKM Kuala Lumpur Campus.

Methods: A cross-sectional study using online Google form was conducted from September to November 2017 among all the undergraduate respondents from various health courses and age range from 18 to 28 years old.

Results: Total of respondents involved in this study were, N=175, with 89.7% was female and 76.7% was Malay. Mean age of respondent was 21.23 (±1.65). Only 9.1 %, (N=16) had passed knowledge score with criteria 80% above. With regard attitude, 96.6% respondents showed positive attitude towards hearing, hearing loss and hearing conservation. The noisiest activity that respondent involved was listening to music using headphone/earphone (98.3%). The highest percentage of using hearing protection devices (25.1%) was shown when attending noisy places. Using Pearson, a significant correlation was obtained between knowledge and attitude, and knowledge and behaviour (P<0.01).

Conclusions: Knowledge, attitude and behaviour concerning noise and hearing loss still low among the respondents indicating that lack of understanding of the risks associated with the exposure to loud sounds. The result from this study may be used to identify those who are at risk of developing noise induce hearing loss and helps to implement hearing conservation program among young adults.