Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices against inhaled particulate matter among urban residents in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Purpose: In order to reduce the health impacts of air pollution effectively, developing strategies that involves individual or community level is crucial. The purpose of this paper is to assess people’s protective practices for inhalable particulate matter and its significant determinants such as general characteristics, knowledge and attitude among residents of an urban residential area, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach: This cross-sectional study was conducted by systematic random sampling. A total of 424 people, who lived in that area for not less than two years before the survey, were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. ?² and Fisher’s exact test were used to analyze the data. Findings: Only a small proportion of respondents had high practice level. In addition, a little more than half has high level of knowledge about inhalable particulate matter, its adverse health effects and protective practices and almost 70 percent had high level of attitude toward air pollution. The protective practices for small inhalable particulate matter was significantly associated with age, educational level, occupation, knowledge and attitude toward small inhalable particulate matter, its adverse health effects and protective measures. Originality/value: A good level of knowledge about the prevailing air pollution and related health risks can be crucial to develop more focused attempt at changing the current situation with public participation. The environmental experts and health volunteer should disseminate precise and adequate information about long-term health hazards of particulate matter and measures of exposure prevention to improve the protective practices.