LONGITUDINAL MONITORING IN THE 2022-25 QUADRENNIUM OF THE DROWNING PREVENTION KNOWLEDGE LEVEL (DPKL) OF SCHOOLCHILDREN IN RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

Abstract

Drowning is a silent, rapid, serious global public health problem that is neglected. Additionally, young people receive insufficient education about drowning prevention. The objective was to monitor changes in the Drowning Prevention Knowledge Level (DPKL) in school children and adolescents in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The methodology was a longitudinal study carried out from 2022 to 2025 with students from Elementary School (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th years) and High School (1st year) from CAp-UERJ. 12 classes were monitored, totaling 334 students in the sample, throughout the study, evaluated four times (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025). Namely, four classes, with a total of 116 students in the 8th year, four classes with a total of 112 students in the 9th year and four classes with a total of 106 students in the 1st year. The structured DPKL questionnaire, divided into three parts and containing 20 items, was answered at school by the students. In the 1st part, they correlated the universal figures used on signs to prevent drowning with the texts that mean those images (7 questions); in the 2nd part, they had to relate the colors of the green, yellow and red flags and their meaning in relation to swimming conditions in the sea (3 questions); and in the last part, the student marked yes or no on statements related to the correct behavior to be adopted in the aquatic environment (10 questions). Each class received 4 interventions based on the individual DPKL result. The results showed, when analyzing all the series together, the excellent performance (100% of correct answers) in the four-year period 2022-25 in correctly recognizing what the plates represent. There was a tendency to improve knowledge of the meaning of 2022-25 in all the green, yellow and red flags, with emphasis on the prevalence of 100% correct answers in the three flags of students who are in the 9th year in 2025. It is noteworthy that when analyzed all together, in relation to the correct attitude towards entering rough seas, in 2022, the prevalence of correct answers was (99.1%), in 2023 (98.2%), in 2024 (99.6%) and in 2025 (98.7%). This fluctuation in the prevalence of correct answers reinforces the idea of ​​maintaining care for this population. In addition to being in cahoots with the perception that teenagers overestimate their swimming skills and need constant attention. When all students were analyzed in comparison over the four-year period, an improvement in the excellent DPKL was noted, going from 86% in 2022 to 99% in 2025. Furthermore, 100% of the 9th year was classified as excellent in the DPKL. It can be concluded that there were improvements, after the interventions, in the DPKL in all years of schooling investigated, with a linear trend of better performance as the student's year of schooling increased. Students at school are receptive to preventive messages about drowning, which makes the school a suitable and effective place for these actions. The diagnostic use of DPKL to monitor school-age students can help identify values ​​and concepts of safety in certain regions of the country or specific groups that are unfamiliar with aquatic environments and thus help to formulate preventive interventions if necessary.