Abstract

Background: Lower back pain (LBP) is a worldwide medical issue and a widespread problem for different ages. Therefore, this study aimed to detect and evaluate the knowledge and awareness about LBP among medical students in King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2018 to February 2019, among both male and female students of different departments in the College of Medical Sciences of King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia, with a mean age of 20-30 years. Information about knowledge of LBP was collected by using a self-administered questionnaire distributed among all medical students through electronic media.
Results: The study was conducted among 310 participants, and majority of the participants (98%) had good knowledge of LBP, while only 2% had bad knowledge. When the association of the levels of LBP knowledge was assessed with regard to age, gender, marital status, and monthly income of the study participants, it was found that there were statistically insignificant relationships among these and the level of knowledge about LBP, except marital status (p-value = 0.000).
Conclusion: High knowledge of LBP was found among the people in Abha. Age, gender, and monthly income were insignificantly associated with the prevalence of knowledge of LBP.

Key words: Low back pain; demographic variables; clinical students; knowledge; awareness; medical students