EVALUATION OF AWARENESS ABOUT INDOOR AIR POLLUTION IN GENERAL POPULATION OF LAHORE

Indoor air pollutants are increasingly being associated with respiratory illnesses leading to high degree of morbidity and mortality. There are not sufficient epidemiological studies from Pakistan which assess level of awareness of indoor air pollution resulting in respiratory diseases in population. Objective: To assess awareness about different sources of indoor air pollution and its effects on health in urban population of Lahore Material and Methods: It was a cross sectional survey. The study population was general population of Lahore City. It was carried out on 300 study subjects who were selected by non-probability convenient sampling. Knowledge of the study subjects was determined with regard to indoor air pollution, its effects on health and different sources of indoor air pollution with the help of a questionnaire. The influence of age, gender, educational status and socio-economic status on the level of awareness will also be analyzed. Results: Out of 115 male participants, 84 were aware whereas out of 108 female participants, 96 were aware about indoor air pollution. 96.0% people were of the view that there is association between indoor air pollution and respiratory diseases whereas 4.0% disagreed. Majority considered building construction dust (84.8%) as the most important source of indoor air pollution causing diseases. Key words: Indoor, pollution, awareness