Effect of self-instructional module on knowledge about ebola virus disease among Nigerian University students in Bengaluru, India

BACKGROUND: The knowledge about Ebola virus disease (EVD) is very crucial in the response to the recent outbreak and in order to control its spread. This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of self-instructional module (SIM) in enhancing knowledge of EVD among Nigerian students in Bengaluru, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A pre-experimental study design was employed, and a simple random sampling technique was used to select 60 participants. A pretest was conducted with the tool to assess the baseline knowledge of participants after which SIM was administered to all the participants in two episodes. The posttest was conducted after 7 days using the same tool to assess any gain in knowledge among the participants. Data were analyzed using SPSS at an alpha level of 0.001 and Descriptive analysis (such as percentage, frequency, mean and standard deviation [SD]) as well as independent t-test was conducted. RESULTS: Findings showed that the majority of the participants (53%) were males, studying for the undergraduate degree (85%), 36 participants (60%) were in arts/social courses. More than average of the participants (67%) had spent only 1-year in India. Majority (53.3%) had average knowledge but after the administration of the SIM, majority had very good knowledge about EVD. The mean pretest knowledge score was 16.03 with an SD of 2.951 while the mean posttest knowledge score was 28.22 with SD of 3.273. The calculated t value was 21.432 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: SIM was observed to be very effective in this study and therefore should be adopted by health personnel in order to convey health-related information to the public.