The effect of community-based theater training on nursing students’ knowledge of secondhand smoke exposure: a one-group pretest–posttest study

Secondhand smoke exposure remains a critical public health challenge, and nursing students play a key role in community protection. Innovative educational methods are needed to enhance knowledge in this area. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of community-based theater training on nursing students’ knowledge of secondhand smoke exposure. This quasi-experimental, single-group pre-test/post-test study was conducted with 322 nursing students at a health school in Turkey. Data were collected using a personal information form and the 13-item “Secondhand Smoke Exposure Knowledge Test.” The intervention consisted of a 50-minute community-based theater performance titled “Let’s Breathe Clean Air,” designed to educate students on passive smoking risks. Pre- and post-intervention scores were compared using the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test. Of the participants, 18.6% were male and 26.8% were smokers. The mean knowledge score of the students increased significantly from (9.93 ± 2.4) in the pre-test to (11.98 ± 1.6) in the post-test ( p < 0.001). The study found a strong effect size (ES = 1.00), demonstrating that the theater-based training significantly enhanced students’ knowledge of secondhand smoke exposure. As a result of this study, community-based theater training was associated with increased knowledge of secondhand smoke exposure among nursing students. While the single-group design limits causal definitive conclusions, the findings suggest that theater-based applications can be a valuable and engaging tool for health education in large groups. It is recommended to incorporate such interactive methods into nursing curricula to enhance public health knowledge. Not applicable.