Awareness, Knowledge, And Perception of School Health Services among parents of school going children in Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka.

Background School health program initiated to promote protect and maintain the health of school children and reduce morbidity and mortality has a larger implication for the health of our future generation. Objectives To assess awareness Knowledge and perception of school health services among parents of school-going children in Dakshina Kannada District of Karnataka.Methodology This study was a community-based cross-sectional study which included responses from 336 parents of School going children. Data was collected using a semi-structured and pretested interview schedule. The questions related to awareness Knowledge and perception were categorized. Each section had a set of questions and responses.The study period was from Jan 2015 to May 2015. The study was approved from the institutional ethical committee of K. S Hegde Medical Academy.Results Respondents mean Age was 39 plusmn five years. Parental awareness on referral services was 59. More than half 52 of the respondents were having good Knowledge on deworming more than three-fifth 63 of the respondents were having good Knowledge regarding IFA. Majority of the respondents perceived health education in School 97 referral services 94 and IFA 83 physical education 99 and counselling services 85 good and useful. Multivariate analysis showed parental education above primary level OR 1.857 CI 1.116-3.096 p0.017 and employed parents OR1.915 CI 1.053-3.480 p0.033 perceive school health services to be good or useful.Conclusion Incomplete awareness among parents suggests a gap in communication between parents and school authorities. There is a low parental knowledge on various program components which may result in the differential as well as limited utilization of various services under the school health program. Involving parents in school health services is vital for higher utilization of services.