Volume 26, Issue 126, August 2022

Knowledge, attitude, and practices of burn first aid and its preventive measures among undergraduate medical students of Umm Al-Qura University: A cross-sectional study

Omar Safran Alhothali^1♦, Reem Abdullah Alharthi¹, Ammar Safran Alhothali¹, Lujain Ahmad Alzahrani¹, Aroob Mohmmed Amin Abdulhalim¹, Mohammed Amro Fouda¹, Fares Alaa Sultan², Alaa A Sultan³

¹Medical student, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
²Medical intern, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
³Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Alqura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Medical student, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Burns are common and highly preventable injuries and affect people worldwide. Burn first aid could speed up the healing process and reduce healthcare costs. The main objective from this study is to evaluate medical students’ perceptions of burn first aid in the Makkah city, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among medical students at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah city. For data collection, an online questionnaire created and Google Forms was used. The data were collected online between December 2021 and January 2022. The questionnaire included 13 questions on the demographic, the participants' academic criteria and evaluated participants’ awareness level on burn first aid. Results: The study included 378 students from the preclinical and clinical levels. Approximately 92% of participants achieved a poor knowledge score. Female students had a significantly higher percentage of those who had good knowledge about burn first aid compared to male students (p <0.05). In addition, the internet and social media (50.4%) were the primary sources of information regarding the prevention of burn injuries among participants, followed by the college curriculum (45.8%). Conclusion: The level of burn first aid awareness was poor among most medical students at Umm Al-Qura University. The use of social media to raise health awareness looks promising.

Keywords: Burn, First aid, Knowledge, Medical students

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms325e2397

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i126/ms325e2397

Published: 05 August 2022