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Volume 27, Issue 136, June 2023

Knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and awareness level towards bipolar disorder among Saudi population: A national survey

Dalal Mohammed Albakr¹, Feras A AL-Awad², Mohammed Almaslami³, Yousef Alshaikh⁴, Norah Almudaymigh⁵, Majed Bin Dayel⁶, Nidhal Rasheed Al-Muhanna³, Amar Hussain Alsubaie³, Khames T Alzahrani⁷

¹Department of Psychiatry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia
²Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
³Medical Student, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
⁴Medical Student, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
⁵Medical Student, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
⁶Medical Student, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for health sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
⁷BDS, PGD in Endo, Saudi Board of Endodontic SR, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Bipolar disorder is a mental disorder characterized by cycle patterns of depression and the condition in which patients increase their level of activity or energy, mood or behavior (mania) or hypomania. Although bipolar has not been fully understood until now, it is established to be one of the most disabling mental disorders. Our aim is assessing knowledge, attitude, beliefs and awareness level towards bipolar disorder among Saudi populations. Methodology: This is a cross sectional survey among Saudi general population. Data was collected by means of an online questionnaire. Males and females in Saudi Arabia between the ages of 17 and 65 who are willing to get involved in this study were enrolled. A scoring system was adopted to evaluate KAP of bipolar disorder among study participants. Data was analyzed by using version 26 IBM. Results: The study included 869 participants, 59.5% of them were males and 40.5% were females. 63.4% of participants aged between 17- 25 years old. 81.8% of studied sample have heard about bipolar disorder before. Source of information was cited as internet in 32.9% and social media in 29%. Bipolar disorder is frequent in Saudi Arabia, according to forty-nine percent of participants. 362 individuals (50.9 precent) had high knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) about bipolar disorder, whereas 49.1 percent had poor KAP scores. Conclusion: The level of awareness was shown to be significantly related to marital status. Awareness initiatives are needed to educate the Saudi public about bipolar disorder.

Keywords: Bipolar disorder, Mental illness, Psychological disorders, General awareness, Saudi Arabia