Teachers' Knowledge About Asthma: Assessment, Correlates, and Sources

Sixty-eight teachers participated in a study aimed to assess their knowledge about asthma. Findings show that teachers have an inadequate basic level of knowledge of many issues related to asthma, including school activities permitted for asthmatic children. The considerable variance of asthma knowledge among teachers related to the following areas: age (younger teachers had better knowledge), personal experience with an asthmatic child, involvement in health education, and reading newspapers and journal articles on health issues. Level of education, classes taught, and being a homeroom teacher were not related to their knowledge about asthma. For the benefit of the asthmatic pupil, it is recommended that a school health program be developed that will deal with the general knowledge of bronchial asthma, including its realistic limitations and modes of coping for the school pupil.