Awareness level of deep vein thrombosis the general population living in the Western region of Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) contains deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). It is a disabling circumstance with a high probability of recurrence and doubtlessly deadly. VTE is a significant public health issue affecting thousands of patients globally and is accountable for a high number of hospitalizations annually. METHODS: A total of 1661 Saudis were surveyed in a cross-sectional observational study. A questionnaire that has already been designed was used to gather information about sociodemographic characters, knowledge about DVT, risk factors, symptoms, complications, relation to patient’s activity, the seriousness of DVT leading to death, and symptoms of PE. RESULT: Approximately 45.5% among participants had prior awareness of DVT. Overweight and long-term travel was the most well-known risk factors. Most of the participants (60%) were aware that DVT occurs when a patient spends most of their time in bed relaxing, the most frequent clinical manifestations were pain and discomfort (97.8%) and local leg pain (73.8%). 45.3% of the participants knew DVT can result in mortality, 36.4% knew more than one pulmonary embolism characteristic, 35%, and 12.6% were aware that post-coagulation syndrome and pulmonary embolism are problems. 12% had a better understanding of DVT and 79% had poor knowledge. Participants who were above 66 years had a university degree, worked in a health specialty, knew about DVT, and received such information from their studies as medical students had a much higher mean knowledge score on DVT than others. CONCLUSION: Poor knowledge necessitates community education programs about risk factors, signs and symptoms, and sequelae of DVT.