Table 5.
Pre and postintervention health knowledge as a function of gender
| Group and stage of intervention (correct responses given, %) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mauritius (n=389) | Zimbabwe (n=395) | ||||||||
| Boys (n=198) | Girls (n=191) | Boys (n=192) | Girls (n=203) | ||||||
| Session number and health statement | Pre | Post | Pre | Post | Pre | Post | Pre | Post | |
| 1 | Playing football will help to keep me healthy | 99.0 | 99.0 | 96.9 | 97.9 | 84.0 | 95.3 | 75.2* | 95.1 |
| Regular exercise helps to prevent being overweight | 86.3 | 94.4 | 90.6 | 99.0* | 80.6 | 89.5 | 73.9 | 93.1 | |
| Minimum amount of exercise required daily to stay healthy | 76.0 | 92.9 | 72.2 | 94.7 | 57.0 | 88.0 | 47.4 | 81.8 | |
| 2 | Important for boys to listen to girls | 42.6 | 80.3 | 74.1**** | 85.9 | 37.8 | 64.6 | 37.5 | 70.8 |
| Boys should help to protect girls from harm | 91.9 | 95.4 | 88.0 | 97.4 | 80.4 | 89.9 | 76.6 | 86.6 | |
| Football is just for boys | 87.8 | 98.5 | 96.9**** | 98.9 | 75.8 | 94.2 | 78.8 | 94.0 | |
| 3 | You can get HIV by touching someone | 76.1 | 93.9 | 84.3* | 95.3 | 65.2 | 82.3 | 68.7 | 85.9 |
| Not having sex is an effective way to avoid getting HIV/AIDS | 64.6 | 82.2 | 72.3 | 91.1** | 71.1 | 85.8 | 66.0 | 81.3 | |
| You can tell whether people have HIV by the way they look | 62.2 | 84.2 | 69.5 | 91.1* | 48.7 | 58.3 | 36.9* | 47.3* | |
| 4 | It is possible to become addicted by starting to smoke marijuana | 70.1 | 89.9 | 66.1 | 93.7 | 59.5 | 77.5 | 59.9 | 72.4 |
| Drinking alcohol can make you feel sad/lonely | 61.1 | 81.8 | 50.0* | 82.5 | 38.9 | 57.1 | 34.5 | 58.7 | |
| It is my choice whether or not I take drugs | 59.0 | 73.1 | 69.1* | 81.5* | 40.1 | 50.5 | 39.3 | 48.5 | |
| 5 | Mosquitoes spread malaria | 80.7 | 94.4 | 74.2 | 96.3 | 94.7 | 96.8 | 95.0 | 97.0 |
| Using a bed net at night helps to prevent getting malaria | 86.3 | 94.4 | 80.6 | 94.8 | 81.1 | 96.9 | 81.2 | 95.5 | |
| People with malaria can die if they do not get treatment | 86.9 | 94.8 | 87.8 | 95.8 | 73.7 | 82.0 | 70.3 | 84.2 | |
| 6 | After washing, it is OK to dry my hands on my shirt | 87.3 | 97.4 | 94.2* | 98.4 | 83.6 | 89.9 | 79.5 | 92.6 |
| Less likely to become ill if hands are washed before eating | 93.4 | 87.2 | 88.5 | 94.2* | 82.8 | 89.0 | 79.2 | 82.8 | |
| How long should I wash my hands to remove germs | 33.2 | 81.3 | 34.3 | 85.9 | 23.5 | 75.1 | 19.2 | 76.2 | |
| 7 | Drinking dirty water causes diarrhoea | 87.8 | 96.4 | 94.2* | 97.4 | 88.4 | 92.0 | 92.5 | 94.6 |
| It is OK to drink water taken straight from a river | 90.4 | 95.4 | 95.8* | 96.8 | 80.7 | 90.6 | 82.9 | 93.0 | |
| How long should water be boiled before it is safe to drink | 26.2 | 80.7 | 37.9* | 88.9* | 29.3 | 63.3 | 26.9 | 65.8 | |
| 8 | A balanced diet contains food of many colours | 39.9 | 66.0 | 36.1 | 69.5 | 36.3 | 76.3 | 38.3 | 86.7** |
| Obesity can lead to diabetes | 76.8 | 86.9 | 77.0 | 90.5 | 38.3 | 71.4 | 26.7* | 68.7 | |
| You can become obese if you eat too many chips | 92.4 | 97.0 | 90.6 | 97.9 | 15.7 | 39.6 | 8.4* | 29.1* | |
| 9 | Vaccinations are dangerous | 89.4 | 95.4 | 86.9 | 98.4 | 60.3 | 56.5 | 63.9 | 66.3*** |
| My parents/guardians have to pay for my vaccinations | 43.1 | 69.2 | 31.9* | 71.2 | 8.9 | 36.6 | 11.6 | 40.3 | |
| A vaccination is a type of health food | 38.1 | 30.9 | 31.6 | 26.3 | 46.6 | 61.1 | 43.3 | 65.2 | |
| 10 | I can stop taking my medication as soon as I begin to feel better | 63.1 | 93.4 | 53.4 | 94.8 | 54.2 | 73.0 | 55.4 | 85.6*** |
| There is no cure for tuberculosis | 16.9 | 56.2 | 14.7 | 60.7 | 51.6 | 65.8 | 57.2 | 66.8 | |
| The right medication can help people with HIV to live longer | 59.4 | 89.8 | 52.4 | 89.0 | 76.4 | 85.8 | 78.3 | 92.1* | |
| Average | 68.9 | 85.7 | 69.7 | 88.5 | 58.8 | 75.8 | 56.8 | 76.6 | |
Statistical tests refer to comparisons between the boys and girls responses at the pre and postintervention stages:
*
p≤0.05;
**
p≤0.01;
***
p≤0.005;
****
p≤0.001.