Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Thyroid Disorders among Population in Taif City, Saudi Arabia

Background: Thyroid disorders are among the commonest endocrine disorders worldwide. Attention on people's knowledge and awareness about thyroid diseases is very important in helping for early diagnosis and early treatment of these disorders. The aim of this study to assess the degree of knowledge and attitude of thyroid gland and their disordersamong general population in Taif City, KSA.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a representative sample of 600 Saudi adults of Taif general population. A pre-designed online questionnaire was used for data collection which consists of sociodemographic data, questions regarding knowledge and awareness of thyroid disorders. All data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS program version 22.

Results: A total of 600 participants responded to the online questionnaire. Majority of respondents were aged between 18 to 32 years and males’ subjects were higher compared to the male counterparts (50.8%). Mean knowledge score of participants was 36.12. Participants who scored higher were 46.3% and considered as good knowledge level. 53.7% had bad knowledge level as they scored lower than mean score knowledge.

Conclusion: Our study population show relatively good knowledge level compared to previous literature. Knowledge score was significantly associated with gender, educational level, working status and family income per month.