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Saleh A Alharbi, 1, 2 Sumayyah AN Kobeisy, 1 Suzan A AlKhater, 3, 4 Adel S Alharbi, 5 Mansour M Alqwaiee, 5 Faisal N Alotaibi, 5 Khalid A Alawam, 6 Turki S Alahmadi, 7 Faisal M Al-Somali, 8 Talal M Almaghamsi, 9 Abdullah A Yousef 3, 4 1Department of Pediatrics, Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Pediatrics, Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Pediatrics, King Fahd Hospital of the University, AlKhobar, Saudi Arabia; 5Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 6Inaya Medical College, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Pediatrics, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 8Department of Pediatrics, Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia; 9Department of Pediatrics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Saleh A AlharbiDepartment of Pediatrics, Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaEmail salharbi@fakeeh.careBackground: Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease that is characterized by reversible airway obstruction due to bronchial hyperresponsiveness. It is one of the most common chronic diseases. In Saudi Arabia, asthma affects 2 million people with asthma frequency in children markedly higher than adults with regional variations ranging from 9% to 33.7%.Objective: The aim of this study is to measure asthma awareness and knowledge of study participants during the ongoing annual Saudi asthma awareness campaigns and compare them with previous survey data conducted in 2014.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the form of a survey distributed across three major cities in Saudi Arabia, Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam, during the National Asthma Awareness Campaign in major regional shopping centers in April 2019. Asthma knowledge scores across different demographic groups were generated from surveyed data. Descriptive and correlative statistical analyses were performed to identify factors associated with changes in asthma knowledge. Scores were compared to previous survey results.Results: The mean score for asthma knowledge was 15.6 out of 25. Asthma knowledge significantly correlated with age (P=0.002), asthma status of the participants (P=0.001), having children with asthma (P=0.005) or knowing friends or family with asthma (P=0.029) but not with other socioeconomic factors such as gender, marital status, occupation, level of education and number of children in the family (P > 0.05). There was a significant difference in the asthma scores from 2014 (M= 63%, SD=26) to 2019 (M= 70%, SD= 26) conditions; t (24) = − 2.106, p=0.046.Conclusion: Further educational campaigns are necessary to enhance and measure general public awareness of asthma, its differential diagnosis against other respiratory infections, environmental triggers, risk factors as well as treatment options.Keywords: asthma, awareness, pediatrics, Saudi Arabia |
