A cross-sectional assessment of the knowledge about rheumatoid arthritis among university students in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic multisystem autoimmune inflammatory disorder characterized by inflammatory joint and extra-articular organ involvement including lung, eye, and heart that can lead to physical dysfunction and impaired quality of life. Aim: The aim of the study is to estimate the level of knowledge about RA and determine attitudes among university students and staff of Riyadh and to assess the limitations of this knowledge. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at universities of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The study used a close-ended, interviewer-based questionnaire and includes 500 respondents from health and nonhealth college students and administrative staff. Results and Discussion: There were 404 (80.8%) females and 96 (19.2%) males and 65.5% were in the common age group of 18–24 years. The highest number of the participants (234, 48.6%) was from Princess Nourah University, and 53% of the participants were from nonhealth science colleges. 51.4% of the participants had a family member working or studying in a health-related field, and the level of knowledge of these participants about RA was 81 (31.5%). The age group that had poor knowledge of RA was between 31 and 40 years (including 83.3% of the participants). The participants from Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University had good knowledge (31.7%) compared to participants from other universities. Finally, among gender groups, females had a better level of knowledge about RA (30.2%) compared to (69.8%) of males. Conclusion: Our study found that the level of awareness about RA in Riyadh is slightly lower than that observed in previous studies conducted in Saudi Arabia. This could be due to a lack of educational programs and awareness campaigns.