Assessing the Impact of Air Pollution and Cardiopulmonary Diseases through General Public Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice

Air Pollution and Cardiopulmonary Diseases

Abstract

Lahore, Pakistan, is one of the most polluted cities in the world, with annual PM2.5 levels almost 20 times the WHO-recommended limit. To our knowledge, no peer-reviewed knowledge, attitude, and practice study on air pollution and cardiopulmonary health has been done in Pakistan. This descriptive cross-sectional study set out to explore: knowledge of indoor and outdoor pollution sources; awareness of the cardio-pulmonary health impacts of air pollution; attitudes towards reducing exposure to air pollution; self-protective measures; and demographic factors associated with knowledge, attitude, and practices. Using convenience sampling, 604 people (16-60 years) were enrolled. A culturally adapted, validated, self-report questionnaire was applied; Statistical Package for the Social Sciences v27.0 was used for the chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis’s test (p < 0.05). The mean age was 28.57 ± 10.35 years; 53.8% were female. The majority of people (77%) had good knowledge, and 92.5% had favorable attitudes towards reducing pollution. But only 59.4% of frequent cooks had adequate safety practices, and just 29.1% identified cooking as a considerable source of indoor pollution. Knowledge was significantly associated with gender (χ² = 27.01, p < 0.001), education (χ² = 125.42, p < 0.001), and occupation (χ² = 41.62, p < 0.001). Only education was a significant predictor of adequate practice (χ² = 9.41, p = 0.024). There was a significant knowledge-attitude-practice gap. Specific campaigns, environmental health promotion, and policy change are crucial. Longitudinal and multi-city studies are needed to build an equitable environmental health policy.