INTRODUCTION:

Mental retardation is one of the most common developmental disabilities it can be idiopathic and challenging to recognise in normal appearing children.

Mental Retardation can easily recognise when the child presents with dimorphic features associated with a known genetic mental retardation disorder. Mental retardation is defined by the American Association that mental retardation is disability that occurs before the age of 18 years.¹ In India, it is estimated that more than 2.27 million people are disabled due to mental illnesses and intellectual sub-normality.²

According to WHO nearly 83 million of the world's population is estimated to be mentally challenged, with 41 million having long-term or permanent disability. It Ranks fourth in the list of leading causes of disability. The overall prevalence of mentally challenged children is between 1-3%. It is more common in developing countries because of the higher incidence of injuries and anoxia during birth, and early childhood brain infections. Population studies have shown that overall prevalence of mild to severe mentally challenged ranges from 2.5 to 5/1000 population.³

The term mental health needs refer to people with mental retardation who have any psychiatric diagnosis included in any of the international classification systems or a behaviour disorder requiring psychiatric intervention. People with mental retardation are estimated to be three to four times more likely than those in the general population to experience an emotional, behavioural or psychiatric disorder.⁴

Mental retardation is a significantly sub average intellectual functioning existing concurrently with related impaired limitations in two or more of the following areas of skills: communication, health care, home living, social skills, community, self-direction, health and safety, functional, academic leisure and work, manifest before the age of 18.⁵ Developmental disabilities' is also used, instead of mental retardation, in many countries. In recent years, the term 'intellectual disability' has been adopted by some international organisations and is gaining ground as an 'international term' for people with mental retardation.⁶

About 10% of the population in the world has some form of mental disability, and 1% has severe form of mental disorders with disability. The recent development in mental health services in India is the community care approach.⁶The epidemiological surveys in India showed the prevalence of psychiatric disorder varying from 9.5 to 37/1000 population. However, recent census data reported that 2.21% of the population has some form of disability and among them, only 2.7% has mental illness, and 5.6% has mental retardation. This may be because the data collected could not detect mild or moderate degrees of mental disability which goes undiagnosed because of limited knowledge and lack of adequate skilled personnel to assess.⁷

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children among 1^st BSc. Nursing students studying at selected nursing college at Mangalore.

OBJECTIVES:

· To assess the existing level of knowledge regarding mental retardation among the students studying in selected Nursing College at Mangalore.

· To assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programmed among nursing students studying in selected nursing college at Mangalore.

· To find the association between the knowledge scores regarding mental retardation among Nursing college students and their selected demographic variables.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS:

H₁: The mean post-test knowledge scores of nursing students on knowledge regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children will be significantly higher than their pre-test knowledge scores.

H₂: There will be a significant association between the pre-test knowledge score with demographic variables.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Research approach: The researcher utilized experimental research approach.

Research design: In this study, pre-experimental, one group pre-test and post-test design was adapted.

Research setting: The setting for the study was Sahyadri nursing college at Mangaluru.

Population: In this study, population consists of Students who are studying in 1^st BSc. Nursing in selected nursing college Mangalore.

Sample: The sample would comprise of 80, 1^st BSc. nursing student. in selected nursing college Mangalore.

Sampling technique: The samples were selected by using Purposive sampling techniques.

Description of the final tools: The tool used in the study consists of 2 parts.

Part 1: Socio Demographic proforma

Part 2: Structured Interview Schedule

Plan for data analysis:

The data were analysed by using both descriptive and inferential statistics.

· Organization of ungrouped data into grouped data.

· Frequencies and percentages were used for analysis of socio-demographic characteristics.

· Calculation of mean, standard deviation of pre and post-test scores.

· Paired ‘t’ test was used to ascertain whether there is significant difference in the mean knowledge score of pre-test and post-test values.

· Chi- square test was used to find the association between socio-demographic variables with pre-test knowledge scores.

RESULTS:

Section I: Description of sample characteristics:

In the present study, a total of 80, 1^st BSc. Nursing students participated. age reveals the majority of them, 79(98.68%) were age between 18-25 years, 1(1.32%) was aged below 18 years, 71(88.16%) were females whereas 9(11.84%) of the subject were males, previous knowledge reveals that 51(61.84%) has previous knowledge and 29(38.16%) doesn’t have previous knowledge, Distribution of the subject according to their subject of information about shows that 47(56.57%) were got information from the classroom, 4(5.27%) of the subject got information by reading 29(38.16%) were not aware and none of them got information from mass media, relatives, neighbours or friends.

Section II: Overall Aspect Wise Knowledge Scores of Respondents:

Table - 1: Classification of Respondents by Pre-Test Knowledge Scores on knowledge regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children N = 80

Knowledge Level	Category	Respondents
Knowledge Level	Category	Number	Percent
Inadequate	<50 % score	68	85.00
Moderate	50-75 % score	12	15
Adequate	>75 % score	0	0
Total		80	100.00

The above Table shows that majority 85.00% (<50%) of the respondents had inadequate knowledge and 15% (50-75%) of respondents had moderate knowledge regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children.

Table- 2: Aspect Wise Pre-Test Mean Knowledge Scores on knowledge regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children. N = 80

S. No.	Area wise	No. of items	Mean	S. D	Mean %
1.	Basic concepts of mental retardation and its incidence	2	0.87	0.58	39.57
2.	Types, causes, risk factors, diagnostic evaluation, signs, and symptoms of mental retardation	9	3.72	1.59	33.27
3.	Treatment and preventive practices for mental retardation, care of mentally retarded children	15	4.96	1.29	32.45
4	Overall	26	9.55	3.46	36.72

The above Table reveals that the aspect wise Pre-test mean knowledge of respondents regarding knowledge regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children. The highest mean pre-test knowledge percentage was seen in the aspect of Basic concepts of mental retardation and its incidence was 39.57%. The mean pre-test knowledge percentage 33.27.33% was seen in the types, causes, risk factors, diagnostic evaluation and of Signs & symptoms, followed by the lowest score 32.45% mean pre-test knowledge percentage in the aspect of Treatment and preventive practices for mental retardation, care of mentally retarded children.

Table 3: Classification of Respondents by Post- Test Knowledge Scores on knowledge regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children. N = 80

Knowledge Level	Category	Respondents
Knowledge Level	Category	Number	Percent
Inadequate	<50 % score	0	0.00
Moderate	50-75 % score	2	2.5
Adequate	>75 % score	78	97.5
Total		80	100.00

The above Table shows that majority 96% (>75%) of the respondents had adequate knowledge and 02% (50-75%) of respondents had moderate knowledge regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children.

Table 4: Aspect Wise Post-Test Mean Knowledge regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children. N = 80

S. No.	Area wise	No. of items	Mean	S.D	Mean %
1.	Basic concepts of mental retardation and its incidence	2	1.43	0.52	73.15
2.	Types, causes, risk factors, diagnostic evaluation, signs and symptoms of mental retardation	9	6.09	1.39	69.66
3.	Treatment and preventive practices for mental retardation, care of mentally retarded children	15	12.19	1.57	78.18
4.	Overall knowledge	26	19.71	1.64	77.38

The above Table reveals that the aspect wise Post-test mean knowledge of respondents regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children. The highest mean post-test knowledge percentage was seen in the aspect of Treatment and preventive practices for mental retardation, care of mentally retarded children was 78.18%. The mean post-test knowledge percentage 73.15% was seen in the aspect of Basic concepts of mental retardation and its incidence, followed lowest post 69.66% was seen in Types, causes, risk factors, diagnostic evaluation, signs, and symptoms of mental retardation.

Table 5: Overall Pre-Test and Post-Test Mean Knowledge of Respondents on regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children. N = 80

	Max. score	Respondents Knowledge			Paired ‘t’ Test
	Max. score	Mean	SD	Mean (%)	Paired ‘t’ Test
Pre-test	26	9.55	3.46	36.72	30.87*
Post-test	26	19.71	1.64	77.38	30.87*

*Significant at 0.05 Level, t (0.05, 49Df) =2.01

Table – 6: Area-wise mean, mean percentage, SD and ‘t’ value showing the difference between the mean pre-test and post-test level of knowledge regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children. N = 80

Aspects of Knowledge	Respondents Knowledge						t value
	Pre-test		Post-test		Enhancement
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Basic concepts of mental retardation and its incidence	0 .87	0.58	1.43	0.52	0.56	0.02	12.77*
Types, causes, risk factors, diagnostic evaluation, signs and symptoms of mental retardation	3.72	1.59	6.09	1.39	2.37	0.2	22.23*
Treatment and preventive practices for mental retardation, care of mentally retarded children	4.96	1.29	12.19	1.57	7.59	0.28	32.84*
Overall knowledge	9.55	3.46	19.71	1.64	10.09	1.82	30.87*

The above table-5 Depicts that Pre-test mean knowledge percentage was 36.72% and Post-test mean knowledge percentage was 77.38%, with enhancement of 40.66%, with paired “t” test value of 21.28* which is significant at 0.05 level as calculated value is greater than table value.

The above Table-6 reveals that the aspect wise mean pre-test and post -test knowledge scores on regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children, the mean pre-test knowledge score regarding Basic concepts mental retardation and its incidence was 0.87 and the post-test mean knowledge score was 1.43 with an enhancement of 0.56. Whereas, in the aspect of Sites, types, causes, risk factors, diagnostic evaluation, signs and symptoms of mental retardation was 3.72 and post-test mean knowledge score was 6.09 with an enhancement of 2.37.

Further in the aspect of pre-test mean knowledge score was Treatment and preventive practices for mental retardation, care of mentally retarded children 4.96 and post-test mean knowledge score was 12.19 with an enhancement of 7.59.

The overall mean score in pre-test was 9.55 and 19.71 in the post test. with an enhancement of 10.09 The statistical paried ‘t’ test indicates the enhancement in the means knowledge score in found to be significant at 0.05 level for all the aspects under the study.

Section III: Association between Pre-Test Knowledge with Selected Demographic Variables:

Table- 7: Association between Socio-Demographic Variables and Pre-Test Knowledge Level of Respondents on regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children

N=80

Sl. No.	Demographic variables	c² Value	Df	P value	Inference
1	Age	8.341	4	0.335	NS
2	Gender	6.341	3	0.260	NS
3	Previous knowledge	7.341	1	0.0160*	S*
4	Source of information	10.320	3	0.044*	S*

^*Is significant; ^NS is not significant.

The table-7 shows that the demographic variables like Age, Gender were not significant Previous knowledge, and Source of information were found to be significant associated with pre-test knowledge scores. Hence, the hypothesis stated there will be a significant association between pre-test knowledge regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children and their demographic variables were partly accepted at 0.05 level.

DISCUSSION:

In the present study confirmed that there was a considerable improvement of knowledge after the administration of STP on mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children and it is also statistically established as significant at 0.05 level. The study revealed that overall pre-test mean knowledge score was 36.72% and post test score was 77.38% with 40.66% mean knowledge enhancement. The overall mean knowledge score during pre-test is 9.55 and 19.71 in the post-test.

The socio demographic variables in the present study such as age and gender were found to be no significant Previous knowledge, Source of information were found significant associated with the pretest knowledge scores at 0.05 level.

The above results were supported by a similar study conducted at Mysore to evaluate the effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme regarding identification and management of mental retardation in children among primary school teachers in selected school mental retardation and care of mental. It showed that there was positive relation between the knowledge and demographic variables^8.

There was a significant improvement in knowledge scores of 1^st BSc. Nursing students after conducting STP regarding mental retardation and care of mental retarded children. Thus, H₁hypothesis is accepted. The H₂ is accepted for significant association found between pre- test knowledge scores and the socio demographic variables such as age, gender, previous knowledge and source of information at 0.05 level.

CONCLUSIONS:

It is concluded that the 1^st BSc. Nursing students had inadequacy in their knowledge in all areas regarding mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children. Conducting Structured Teaching programme found effective in increasing knowledge of 1^st BSc. Nursing students.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

1. The study is limited to 1^st BSc. Nursing students at Mangalore

2. The study did not use control group.

3. The study did not assess the attitude of 1^st BSc. Nursing students. Only a single domain that is knowledge is considered in the present study.

4. The sample size for the study was limited to 80, 1^st BSc. Nursing students. Hence the results of the study cannot be generalized.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Based on the findings of the present study following recommendations have been made:

1. A similar study can be replicated on many subjects to generalize the findings.

2. A similar study can be conducted in different settings with a control group.

3. An experimental study can be undertaken with a control group for effective comparison of the result.

4. A study can be conducted with the assessment of attitude 1^st BSc. Nursing students regarding knowledge on mental retardation and care of mentally retarded children

5. Manuals, information booklets, and self-instruction module may be developed in areas of care of mentally retarded children.

REFERENCE:

1. Townsend HC. Psychiatric mental health nursing concepts of care in evidence-based practice. 6^th ed. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers. 562-3.

2. Umar G. Prevalence and pattern of mental disability using Indian disability evaluation assessment scale in a rural community of Karnataka. Indian Journal Psychiatry. 2008; 50 (1): 21-23.

3. Ahmad N. Joshi H S. Bano and Phalke B. Study of health status and etiological factors of mentally challenged children in a school for mentally challenged in rural Maharashtra. International Journal of Medical Update 2010; 5(2): 21-25.

4. Gupta RK, Kaur H. Stress among parents of children with intellectual disability. Acia Pacific Intellectual Rehabilitation Journal. 2010: 21(2): 118-26.

5. Thengal N. Attitude of parents and family members towards the metal retarded children in Assam. International Journal of Behavioral Social and Movement Sciences. 2013: 2(1): 106-210

6. Hassal R. Rose J. and Donald J. Parenting stress in mothers of children with an Intellectual Disability. Journal Intellect Disability Research. 2005; 49(6): 405-15.

7. Khatib J.M. Khadi B and Naik R K. Parent knowledge regarding mental retardation and special education. Karnataka Journal of Agriculture Science. 2014: 27(3): 372-4.

8. Vandali V. A study to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching program on knowledge of school teachers regarding learning disability in children in selected primary schools. October 2018. Available fromhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/338040441_

Received on 19.03.2024 Modified on 03.04.2024

Int. J. of Advances in Nur. Management. 2024; 12(2):81-85.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2652.2024.00018