Volume 26, Issue 129, November 2022

Assessment of knowledge of Alzheimer's disease among medical students at Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia

Abdulrahman M Al-harbi^1♦, Abdulkareem M Nmnkany¹, Ziyad S Al-Saedi¹, Ammar A Al-Ahmadi¹, Mohannad T Hemdi², Abdullah A Tawakul³

¹Department of Medicine and Surgery, College of Medicine, Umm AlQura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
²Assistant professor, Department of surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
³Assistant professor of neurology, Faculty of medicine, department of Medicine, Umm Al Qura university, Al-Abdia Main Campus, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Medicine and Surgery, College of Medicine, Umm AlQura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is rising health problem with an estimated 6.4% in Saudi Arabia. 80% of dementia cases are caused by AD and usually patients diagnosed at late stages. This study intends to measure the knowledge of Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) undergraduate medical students regarding AD. Methods: Cross-sectional study carried out using an online questionnaire disrupted among medical students. The questionnaire included two sections the first is about demographic data, the second assesses the knowledge related to AD and consisted of 30 true and false items. Results: The total sample number in this study was 332 (54.8% male, while 45.2% were female). The total mean score for this study was 14.12 and most of them (59%) had poor knowledge level regarding AD. Conclusion: This study shows the level of knowledge toward Alzheimer's disease is insufficient amongst medical students at UQU. Meanwhile, a higher academic year is linked to a better level of knowledge. Therefore, focused directed teaching is important to benefit students to develop their knowledge that allows them to do appropriate clinical evaluation by history and physical examination to reach the diagnosis.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, knowledge, medical students, dementia

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms496e2568

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i129/ms496e2568

Published: 27 November 2022