Knowledge and awareness toward anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury among population of Aseer region, Saudi Arabia

PURPOSE: The aim of this article is to determine the knowledge and awareness of population toward anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in Aseer region, and to determine the extent of knowledge about what does a person with ACL injury suffer from, and thus investigate the main sources of information that public obtained their medical information about sport injury from. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire distributed to the participants either in malls, campuses, or campaigns and filled by them in Aseer region. A sample of 576 participants was successfully interviewed. Convenience sampling method was used. RESULTS: Nearly all of the participants considered this injury as a multi-factorial incident resulting from a combination of any of the following risk factors: sports, high body weight, heavy housework, and car accidents. Regarding mechanisms responsible about occurrence of ACL injuries during playing sports, the majority (60.8%) proposed a combination of two or more incorrect technical movements: lack of self-protection awareness, insufficient preparation, and overload of exercise. Regarding the participant's information about methods that could decrease pain of ACL injury, about three quarters of all participants (72.2%) stated that resting could alleviate pain. Moreover, most of individuals with previous ACL injury confirmed this. In addition, those with pervious ACL injury supported the role of ice significantly more than the remainder (53.6% vs. 48.1%). Prescription pain medications were selected by 47.3% of all participants. In all, 53.8% of all participants considered Internet as a main source of information about ACL injury. CONCLUSION: Findings indicated reasonable awareness of the general population in Aseer region about the seriousness of ACL injury, but there was a lack of information about risk factors other than sports, that is, dangerous actions that increase incidence of ACL injuries and their characteristic symptoms.