Awareness about first aid management of epistaxis among medical students in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Epistaxis is the bleeding from nose or nasal cavity and it is considered as one of the most common emergencies presenting in ear, nose, and throat department and accident and emergency department worldwide. OBJECTIVE AND AIM: The aim of this study was to assess and evaluate knowledge, attitude, and practice of first aid management of epistaxis among medical students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional community-based studies were collected using electronic questionnaire distributed among medical students all over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted between September and January 2018. RESULTS: Data were collected from 300 medical students from all over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using questionnaires, which were filled electronically. Majority of the respondents were females (75.7%), whereas 24.3% of the respondents were males. Most of the participants were from fourth and fifth year with 25.0 and 24.3%, respectively. 39.7% of the participants responded that fingernail trauma as the commonest cause of the epistaxis, followed by bleeding disorder in 17.3%. 64% of the respondents think that epistaxis is an emergency condition that requires early intervention. 71% of the respondents demonstrated the correct position as first aid measure of epistaxis and only 41.3% of respondents demonstrated the correct site for pinching the nose. The main source of the respondent's knowledge regarding first aid management of epistaxis was self-taught (53.67%) followed by medical books (23.33%). CONCLUSION: Medical students in Saudi Arabia have an adequate knowledge about epistaxis and first aid measure that can be used to manage epistaxis.