Association between Prior Exposure to Non-Communicable Disease Information And Health Literacy among Allied Health Students in Pakistan: Implications for Curriculum Development

Abstract

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for approximately 74% of global mortality and impose a disproportionate burden on low- and middle-income countries. Despite this, NCD awareness — particularly among future healthcare professionals — remains inconsistently characterised. Understanding which factors independently predict NCD awareness is essential for designing targeted educational interventions (GBD 2019 Diseases and Injuries Collaborators, 2020).

Objective: To determine which sociodemographic and lifestyle variables independently predict NCD awareness levels among undergraduate allied health sciences students in Peshawar, Pakistan, with a focus on the sole statistically significant predictor identified in chi-square analysis.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 250 undergraduate allied health sciences students at selected private institutions in Peshawar from January to May 2026. NCD awareness was assessed using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Awareness was categorised as low, moderate, or high. Eleven variables were evaluated for association with awareness level using Pearson chi-square analysis (p < 0.05 considered statistically significant).

Results: Overall, 81.2% of participants achieved high NCD awareness. Of eleven variables evaluated, only prior exposure to NCD information (having previously heard about NCDs) was significantly associated with awareness level (χ² = 21.510, df = 2, p < 0.001). Students with prior exposure were substantially more likely to attain high awareness (87.8% vs. 64.3%) — a 23.5 percentage-point excess. All demographic variables (gender, age, residence, year of study) and lifestyle variables (smoking, physical activity, stress, diet, health check-up practices) were non-significant.

Conclusion: Prior exposure to NCD information is the sole independent predictor of NCD awareness among allied health students in Peshawar. These findings provide compelling evidence for the mandatory integration of structured, early NCD orientation programmes into allied health curricula a zero-cost, evidence-based intervention to close the NCD knowledge gap in future healthcare professionals.

Keywords:  Non-communicable diseases · NCD awareness · Allied health students · Health literacy · Prior information exposure · Pakistan · Curriculum · Public health education.