Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge and beliefs of caregivers in Saudi Arabia towards burn first aid and prevention of pediatric burns, and whether awareness score correlate with different demographic factors.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between February 10 and May 15, 2018, via a self-administered questionnaire among a convenience sample randomly selected Saudi parents above 18 years old with children below 12 years, during awareness week in a shopping mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire composed of two mains parts including demographics and questions related to burn prevention and its first aid. Chi-square test was used to evaluate the correlation between awareness scores and demographic variables. The analysis was performed using SPSS version 20 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA).
Results: This study included 469 respondents (93.2% response rate). The mean age of the respondents was 35.25 (±12.52) years, half of the respondents (50.5%) held bachelors degree. When asked burn-related questions, 29.0% used traditional remedies to treat burns; and 64.8% agreed on applying water after burns. The meal overall score of knowledge was 5.77, SD ± 1.44 and ranged between 1 and 10. Demographic variables (age, gender, education) were not found to be associated with burn-awareness scores according to this study.
Conclusion: The results show that parental knowledge and attitude towards burn first-aid and its prevention in Saudi Arabia are inadequate, and that health care providers should shed light on deficiencies and start to spread knowledge and educate the community.
Key words: Burn First Aid, Awareness, Pediatric, Scalding burn, Traditional Remedies
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