Knowledge of and Attitude Toward Disaster Preparedness Among Secondary School Students in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Background Disaster is any unexpected event that leads to significant harm exceeding the capacity of the affected community for coping. Unfortunately, disasters have increased during the last few years globally. Knowledge and attitude of people are the main steps for the success of disaster preparedness and management. Thus, this study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge and attitude about disaster preparedness among secondary school students in the western region of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methodology Across-sectional, survey-based study was conducted on asample of 726secondary school students who were chosen from the westernregion of Saudi Arabia through a multistage sampling approach. The data were collected using a validated, self-administered, electronic questionnaire comprising 34 items. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results A total of 726 respondents were recruited in this study. The majority of the respondents were females (79.5%), and about half (53.9%) belonged to the 17-18-year age group. About half of the participants had a good understanding of disaster preparedness. The most common source of their information was social media (78.8%). Despite the majority of the study population showing a positive attitude toward disaster preparedness, only 34.2% of the respondents were previously involved in a disaster drill(s) or workshop(s). Students' knowledge of disaster preparedness was significantly associated with their gender (p < 0.001), father's and mother's education (p < 0.001 for each), father's occupation (p = 0.005), and average monthly income (p < 0.001). The average monthly income of parents was shown to be significantly correlated with attitude scores toward disaster management preparedness. Conclusions This study revealed that the perceived knowledge regarding disaster preparedness among secondary school students in the western region of Saudi Arabia was fair with a high level of positive attitude toward it. Educated parents, employed fathers, and high family income were associated with good knowledge of students. Disaster response training simulation for students is highly recommended to be involved in the curricula.