Medical students' perception about burns first aid management: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Burn is a globally prevalent highly preventable injury. Burn first aid management (BFAM) could reduce surgical interventional needs, accelerate healing processes, and reduce health burden over health care settings. Thereby this study aimed to evaluate medical students’ perception about BFAM in Qassim region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted to enroll medical students in government and private universities in Qassim region. An online self-administered questionnaire using Google Form was used for the data collection. The questionnaire included demographic and academic criteria of the participants through 16 closed-ended questions, evaluating participants’ awareness level about BFAM. Results: Average perception level of the medical students was 82.5%; however, 7.7% had good awareness level. Significant associations between the participants’ perception level about BFAM and female student (p = 002), older age group (p < 0.001) and being in the clinical years (p = 0.001) were observed in this study. In addition, college curricula (83%) were the main source of information about BFAM among participants followed by internet and social media (20%). Conclusion: The awareness level about BFAM was average among majority of Qassim medical students. However, the application of simulation laboratories as modern educational tools has become an ethical imperative in hands with continuous updated formal first aid courses and workshops, to improve students’ abilities especially in clinical phases.