knowledge, attitude, and practice on health behaviors regarding air pollution from burning waste: a cross-sectional study among villagers in the north of iran in 2020

Background: incineration is a waste disposal technique employed to reduce the volume of waste, resulting in air pollution. objectives: this study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice on health behaviors among rasht villagers regarding air pollution from burning waste. methods: the present descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 260 rural households in rasht. data were collected using a questionnaire by interviewing participants. the participants were randomly selected and entered the study. data were analyzed by spss version 16 using the t-test, one-way anova, and pearson correlation at a 95% confidence interval. the content validity index (cvi) and content validity ratio (cvr) were used to assess the instrument’s validity. cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated to evaluate the questionnaire reliability. results: the findings confirmed the optimal validity and reliability of the instrument used in the study. the participants’ age range was 19 to 78, with a mean age of 43.87  12.66 years. the practice had a significant positive correlation with knowledge (r = 0.216). the correlation between practice and attitude was positive but not statistically significant. education and information on burning wastes had a substantial relationship with knowledge. participants received 80%, 29.3%, and 66.7% of the maximum achievable scores for knowledge, attitude, and practice components in the questionnaire, respectively. conclusions: the villagers’ attitude in performing health behaviors regarding air pollution was not favorable, and there is a need to provide educational and behavioral interventions in this regard.