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Awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Risk Factors Among the Adult Population of the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia
Background: Epidemiological studies are crucial in appraising the occurrence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a specific region, establishing benchmarks, and devising effective preventive measures. It is against this background that the study aims to evaluate adult awareness of COP...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Cureus
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10555947/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37809115 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.44743 |
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author | Almuzaini, Ahmed S Algeffari, Mutab Alsohaibani, Asma Almutlaq, Latifah Y Alwehaibi, Raghad Almuzaini, Reema A Mahmood, Syed E |
author_facet | Almuzaini, Ahmed S Algeffari, Mutab Alsohaibani, Asma Almutlaq, Latifah Y Alwehaibi, Raghad Almuzaini, Reema A Mahmood, Syed E |
author_sort | Almuzaini, Ahmed S |
collection | PubMed |
description | Background: Epidemiological studies are crucial in appraising the occurrence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a specific region, establishing benchmarks, and devising effective preventive measures. It is against this background that the study aims to evaluate adult awareness of COPD and its risk factors among adults in the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia. Method: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted in the Qassim Region and involved consenting adults who voluntarily participated. Between 20 May and 4 June 2023, a self-administered online survey was distributed through social media platforms, utilizing an anonymous, self-explanatory questionnaire to evaluate participants' awareness of COPD. Results: In our study, a total of 1,306 participants were enrolled, of which 27.6% (n=360) reported having ever heard of COPD. Among all respondents, 21.3% (n=278) stated that they study or work in medical-related fields, and out of them, 60.4% (n=168) had prior awareness of COPD. Upon excluding participants associated with medical-related fields, the overall awareness level decreased to 18.7%. The majority of respondents fell within the age range of 18 to 29 years, of whom 34.5% had ever heard of COPD. Regarding smoking habits, the majority were cigarette smokers (38.4%), and of all cigarette smokers, 22.4% had heard of COPD. The second highest proportion of smokers (35.8%) were electronic smokers, and among them, 24.1% were aware of COPD. The lowest proportion of smokers (25.8%) were shisha smokers, with 25.6% of them having heard of COPD. Among the 1,306 respondents, only 27.5% (n=360) had ever heard of COPD. When asked about the organ affected by COPD, 81% (n=292) of those who were aware of the condition correctly responded that it affects the lungs. On the other hand, 8.9% (n=32) incorrectly selected "heart" as the affected organ, while 2.5% (n=9) chose "I don't know," and none selected "throat." Conclusion: The Qassim Region in Saudi Arabia exhibits a reduced level of COPD awareness among the general population. It is imperative to urgently address this situation and enhance awareness for improved COPD diagnosis and treatment. Considering the region's high prevalence of COPD and associated risk factors, it becomes vital to strengthen educational curricula and integrate COPD awareness into public forums and awareness campaigns. Moreover, conducting additional national research would be instrumental in assisting policymakers in developing effective preventive and therapeutic strategies. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10555947 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Cureus |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-105559472023-10-07 Awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Risk Factors Among the Adult Population of the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia Almuzaini, Ahmed S Algeffari, Mutab Alsohaibani, Asma Almutlaq, Latifah Y Alwehaibi, Raghad Almuzaini, Reema A Mahmood, Syed E Cureus Family/General Practice Background: Epidemiological studies are crucial in appraising the occurrence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a specific region, establishing benchmarks, and devising effective preventive measures. It is against this background that the study aims to evaluate adult awareness of COPD and its risk factors among adults in the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia. Method: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted in the Qassim Region and involved consenting adults who voluntarily participated. Between 20 May and 4 June 2023, a self-administered online survey was distributed through social media platforms, utilizing an anonymous, self-explanatory questionnaire to evaluate participants' awareness of COPD. Results: In our study, a total of 1,306 participants were enrolled, of which 27.6% (n=360) reported having ever heard of COPD. Among all respondents, 21.3% (n=278) stated that they study or work in medical-related fields, and out of them, 60.4% (n=168) had prior awareness of COPD. Upon excluding participants associated with medical-related fields, the overall awareness level decreased to 18.7%. The majority of respondents fell within the age range of 18 to 29 years, of whom 34.5% had ever heard of COPD. Regarding smoking habits, the majority were cigarette smokers (38.4%), and of all cigarette smokers, 22.4% had heard of COPD. The second highest proportion of smokers (35.8%) were electronic smokers, and among them, 24.1% were aware of COPD. The lowest proportion of smokers (25.8%) were shisha smokers, with 25.6% of them having heard of COPD. Among the 1,306 respondents, only 27.5% (n=360) had ever heard of COPD. When asked about the organ affected by COPD, 81% (n=292) of those who were aware of the condition correctly responded that it affects the lungs. On the other hand, 8.9% (n=32) incorrectly selected "heart" as the affected organ, while 2.5% (n=9) chose "I don't know," and none selected "throat." Conclusion: The Qassim Region in Saudi Arabia exhibits a reduced level of COPD awareness among the general population. It is imperative to urgently address this situation and enhance awareness for improved COPD diagnosis and treatment. Considering the region's high prevalence of COPD and associated risk factors, it becomes vital to strengthen educational curricula and integrate COPD awareness into public forums and awareness campaigns. Moreover, conducting additional national research would be instrumental in assisting policymakers in developing effective preventive and therapeutic strategies. Cureus 2023-09-05 /pmc/articles/PMC10555947/ /pubmed/37809115 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.44743 Text en Copyright © 2023, Almuzaini et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Family/General Practice Almuzaini, Ahmed S Algeffari, Mutab Alsohaibani, Asma Almutlaq, Latifah Y Alwehaibi, Raghad Almuzaini, Reema A Mahmood, Syed E Awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Risk Factors Among the Adult Population of the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia |
title | Awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Risk Factors Among the Adult Population of the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia |
title_full | Awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Risk Factors Among the Adult Population of the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia |
title_fullStr | Awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Risk Factors Among the Adult Population of the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia |
title_full_unstemmed | Awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Risk Factors Among the Adult Population of the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia |
title_short | Awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Risk Factors Among the Adult Population of the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia |
title_sort | awareness of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and its risk factors among the adult population of the qassim region, saudi arabia |
topic | Family/General Practice |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10555947/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37809115 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.44743 |
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