Abstract

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome is a clinical disorder marked by frequent pauses in breathing during sleep usually accompanied by loud snoring. These pauses cut off the oxygen supply to your body for a few seconds and halt the removal of carbon dioxide. The aim of the study was to assess Saudi population awareness regarding obstructive sleep apnea and determinates of their awareness level.
Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional survey study was conducted targeting Saudi general population above the age of 18 years old. Data were collected using a well-structured online questionnaire to be answered by participants. A total of 1000 participants completed the questionnaire online without missing or incorrect data.
Results: Overall knowledge level was poor for 80.7% of the total sample and good for 19.3% with mean score 24.8%. The highest knowledge level was for disease symptoms knowledge by 28%, followed by methods of treatment knowledge by 26%, risk factors by 24.5%, and complications knowledge by mean score of 20.9%.
Conclusions: A poor level of awareness regarding all aspects of obstructive sleep apnea was recorded, as the majority have no source of knowledge which indicates that medical staff needs to do more effort in improving the population awareness in this regard.

Key words: Sleep apnea, respiratory disorders, awareness, knowledge, pulmonary complications and obesity