Current World Environment - Assessment of Air Pollution Knowledge Among Health Care Professionals of Syri Block, Solan, India

Aug 24, 2026

Air pollution knowledge among health care providers shapes how effectively adverse pollution effects are communicated to patients. A pilot cross-sectional telephonic survey with informed consent assessed knowledge, attitude, and practices on air pollution among health care professionals in Syri Block, Solan, India, in October 2025. Participants included 16 doctors and 28 paramedical staff. All recognized health impacts, but awareness was limited for Air Changes Per Hour and for checking hospital air quality, indicating inadequate IEC and training.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Health impacts and global context

Evidence gaps in hospital indoor air quality

Need to assess providers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices

ISSN: 0973-4929, Vol. 20, No. (3) 2025, Pg. 1367-1374 Current World Environment [www.cwejournal.org](www.cwejournal.org) Assessment of Air Pollution Knowledge Among Health Care Professionals of Syri Block, Solan, India AJAY KUMAR SINGH1, RAJEEV KUMAR AGGARWAL2*, SUMIT CHAWLA3 and KARTIK4 1,4Department of Health and Family Welfare, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. 2Department of Environment Science, Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. 3Department of Community Medicine, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College, Chhainsa, Faridabad, Haryana. Abstract Air Pollution knowledge of health care providers determines communication of adverse effects of pollution to the patients. Hence a study was conducted to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of health care providers on air pollution. A pilot cross-sectional study by telephonic survey, with informed consent and voluntary participation was conducted in October 2025 in health block Syri of district Solan, India.16 (36 .4%) Doctors and 28 (63 .6%) Paramedical staff, mean age 36.18 years, SD 9.8, participated. All perceived that air pollution affects human health and dampness (87 .5% Doctors, 85.7% Paramedics)/ Foul smell (56 .3% Doctors, 82. 1% Paramedics) were also the causes. 81.3% Doctors significantly knew about Air Quality Index compared to 42.9% Paramedics (Chi square-6 . 11, df 1, p= 0 .01) . 93% of respondents believed that patient’s indoor hospital stay gets affected by pollution and indoor plants can improve air quality. Only 4 doctors and 1 Paramedic knew about the concept of Air Changes Per Hour (χ2 = 4 .64, df = 1, p = 0.03) . Only 64%(χ2 = 7 .39, df = 1, p = 0 .00) Paramedics could name three diseases caused by air pollution. Majority of respondents (61%) knew names of indoor plants. Very less respondents (6%) bothered to check air quality in hospitals. However about 50% did care about dampness and foul smell and kept windows open for ventilation. Significantly low (18% Doctors, 50% Paramedics, χ2 = 4. 10, df = 1, p = 0.04) had seen Article History Received: 18 November 2025 Accepted: 07 January 2026 Keywords Air Pollution; Air Quality Index; Health Care Providers; Human Health; Knowledge. CONTACT Rajeev Kumar Aggarwal [rajeev1792@rediffmail.com](rajeev1792@rediffmail.com) Department of Environment Science, Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. © 2025 The Author(s) . Published by Enviro Research Publishers. This is an Open Access article licensed under a Creative Commons license: Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY) . Doi: [http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.20.3.32](http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.20.3.32) SINGH et al., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 20(3) 1367-1374 (2025) 1368 information, education and communication (IEC) materials on air quality in hospital. Only 3 Paramedics had undergone training on air quality. The pilot study with low sample size as its limitation was a pioneer attempt in the region and it had inferred that the knowledge on air quality was inadequate among health care providers. There was also lack of attitude and practice of checking air quality. This was probably due to unavailability of IEC material in hospitals and no trainings of health care providers. The Department of Health has been sent recommendations to take up sensitization of health care professionals on various aspects of air quality. Introduction Globally the burden of air pollution is heterogenous and its impact being ubiquitous. Growing evidence of the harmful impact of air pollution on human health especially on non- communicable diseases such as ischemic heart disease, stroke, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer, eventually led to the adoption of a resolution on air quality and health by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015.1 Worldwide, air pollution ranks among the top ten risk factors which attribute

FAQs

What was the study objective regarding air pollution knowledge?

To assess knowledge, attitude, and practices of health care providers on air pollution and related hospital air quality awareness.

How was the pilot study conducted and when?

A pilot cross-sectional telephonic survey with informed consent and voluntary participation was conducted in October 2025 in Syri Block of district Solan, India.

What key knowledge gaps were found among health care professionals?

Most understood pollution affects health, but knowledge of Air Changes Per Hour was very low, and very few respondents checked air quality in hospitals; training on air quality was also limited.

Aug 24, 2026

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