Abstract:
Background: Awareness about any condition is considered to be the first step in the prevention of any disorder. Similarly, understanding the level of awareness with respect to literacy is an essential to create awareness as part of primary prevention activities. However, in Indian context, there is dearth of documented evidence on studying the awareness of communication disorders in the general population. Hence, the present study was aimed to understand the level of awareness among the people towards communication disorders and its relation to literacy. Method: In an experimental survey research, 145 volunteers in the age range of 19 to 67 years were considered. A Questionnaire was developed as part of the study which consisted of six close ended 'YES-NO' type questions. The questionnaire was administered by the investigator to all the participants. Results: Results on frequency distribution revealed that the 79.18% 114 of 145) of people rated as 'YES' and 19.55% (31 of 145) said as 'NO'. Further, quantitative (analysis was done through crosstabs analysis to study the effect of literacy on level of awareness on communication disorders. With respect to literacy towards awareness, 80.13% of the literate group answered 'YES', and 19.88% rated as 'NO'. Similarly, 70.23% illiterates rated as 'YES' and 29.76% rated as 'NO'. Results of the chi-squire test revealed that there was no significant association (p>0.05) seen between literates and illiterates for all the questions except for awareness on 'effect of music on hearing' (literates showed awareness of the problem than illiterates). Conclusion: To conclude, the present study emphasized on high awareness of communication disorders in the general public of Hospet Taluk of Bellary district.