Volume 26, Issue 129, November 2022

Population awareness and knowledge of thyroid diseases signs, symptoms and risk factors in Taif Saudi Arabia

Hani Abozaid¹, Reem Saad Albaqami², Hatoon Muaid Aljuaid², Elaf Hamoud Alotaibi², Amal Saeed Althagafi², Hanin Abdulaziz Alghamdi²

¹MD, SBFM, ABFM, MHPE, DFP, AFP, FHS, CTC, Professor of Family Medicine, Diabetes and Medical Education, Taif University, P.O Box: 4623 – Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
²Medical student, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: There have been many studies from different parts of the world that assess the awareness of thyroid disorders. The studies done in Saudi Arabia revealed a good overall knowledge. To assess Taif population awareness and knowledge about thyroid disorder and if there is a correlation between the awareness & awareness knowledge of thyroid disorders with nationality, age, gender, social status, residency, education level, employment and income. Methods: The general population in Taif city, Saudi Arabia was the target of this cross sectional survey. Males and females of various age groups (18-65 years), both Saudi and nonSaudi, were included in the sample. Health workers and medical students were excluded from our research. An Arabic language version of a self administered questionnaire was utilized to acquire data. Results: Our study included 911 respondents, 86.5% of them were females, 63.6% aged 18-30 years and 74.8% have university education. Only about 14% of the studied populations have poor knowledge about thyroid diseases, and about 21% have average knowledge, and about 65.3% of them have high knowledge. The level of knowledge regarding thyroid disorders is significantly influenced by gender (p-value = 0.002). Age, country had no discernible effects on participants' awareness of thyroid diseases, according to our study (p values = 0.027, 0.229, 0.0169 and 0.29, respectively). Conclusion: Only small percentages of the Taif population have poor knowledge about thyroid diseases. We also recommend conducting large services to measure the awareness level of the public in Saudi Arabia about these important disorders.

Keywords: Thyroid disorders, awareness, knowledge, High Altitude, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, Saudi Arabia.

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms464e2499

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i129/ms464e2499

Published: 14 November 2022