Knowledge and Attitude of King Khalid University Students Toward Common Issues of Ear, Nose, and Throat

Abstract

Introduction

Ear, nose, and throat (ENT), often known as otorhinolaryngology (ORL), is a subspecialty within medicine that specializes in diagnosing and treating conditions affecting the head, neck, and ears. Understanding ORL is essential for treating common ENT issues, avoiding complications, and preserving quality of life. These diseases can affect numerous physiological processes, including taste, smell, speaking, breathing, swallowing, hearing, and secretion clearance. In order to guide interventions for improved ENT health, our study sought to evaluate university students' degree of ORL-related knowledge.

Methodology

It is a cross-sectional study conducted among students at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia. Validated surveys are used to collect data via the Internet, including online and email-based data collecting. Data are cleaned in Excel and analyzed by IBM SPSS (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).

Results

Our study included 131 Saudi university students in Abha City, revealing significant knowledge gaps and misconceptions regarding ENT issues. Despite high awareness of certain topics like flu vaccination (87.8%) and the association between hearing loss and social life (95.4%), misconceptions persisted, such as the belief in vitamin C's efficacy against influenza (51.9%). Notably, 47.3% displayed good knowledge, 26.7% showed moderate knowledge, and 26% demonstrated poor knowledge about ENT issues. Significant associations were found between knowledge levels and age (p<0.001), academic level (p<0.001), and previous surgery related to ENT issues (p=0.014).

Conclusion

Our study revealed that 47.3% of participants have good levels of knowledge regarding ENT problems, with significant associations found with age, academic level, previous ENT surgery, and diagnoses of throat issues. Education campaigns should target specific demographics to improve the overall understanding of ENT health.