A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PERCEPTION OF JAUNDICE AMONG PARAMEDICAL AND NON-PARAMEDICAL STUDENTS

Jaundice is defined as the yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes which are caused by a buildup of a substance called bilirubin in the blood and tissues in the body. Bilirubin is a yellowish pigment formed by the breakdown of heme, which occurs largely in hemoglobin and red blood cells. The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare the knowledge, attitude, and perception of jaundice among paramedical and non-paramedical students. A Comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in South India for a period of 6 months from May 2021 to October 2021. The Knowledge, Attitude, and perception questionnaire was used to obtain respondents’ information. The data collected were tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted using standard statistical tools. The statistical procedure was undertaken with the help of the statistical package Instat and Prism version 6.0. The comparison was done by the Chi-square test. A total of 818 students were selected and divided into two groups such as 409 paramedical students and 409 non-paramedical students. This study concluded that Paramedical students had better knowledge and attitude than non-paramedical students. Many paramedical and non-paramedical students have a positive perception of jaundice, and only a few have a negative perception of jaundice. So, we recommend many awareness programs, seminars, and workshops that need to be conducted for all the students, especially non-paramedical students, to enhance their knowledge and attitude toward jaundice.