Background: Vitiligo is a chronic systemic acquired skin and hair depigmentation, and one of the most common skin diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the level of knowledge of the public in the Eastern Province about vitiligo, besides identifying the factors affecting their knowledge, and to evaluate the level of attitude toward patients with vitiligo.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia including Al-Ahsa, Al Khobar, Dammam, and Al Qatif cities. An Arabic and English questionnaire was prepared using Google Forms and was distributed using online applications, such as WhatsApp and Facebook.
Results: This study was conducted among 200 participants, mostly male (85%), aged between 30 and 50 years, and the majority were university educated (60%). All participants had heard about vitiligo. Participants had a moderate level of knowledge about the disease (60%). The association between vitiligo and taking certain foods, such as milk or fish, was the most popular misconception related to vitiligo, and two-thirds of the participants had a high positive attitude toward patients with vitiligo, where older participants had a higher positive attitude than younger ones, with a significant relationship between them.
Conclusion: It was found that the public in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia had a moderate level of knowledge about vitiligo with some misconceptions that were more prevalent in males than females. However, most of them had a positive attitude toward patients with vitiligo.
Key words: Vitiligo, misconceptions, Eastern province, acknowledgement, Saudi Arabia
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