Abstract

Objective: This study assessed primary school staff knowledge, attitude, and practice of anaphylaxis and its related factors in Al-Qunfudah governorate.
Methods: A cross-sectional study targeted primary school staff, who were above 18 years of age and lived in Al-Qunfudah governorate, through a simple random sample selection. The data were collected by interviewing primary school staff with a validated questionnaire.
Results: A total of 191 primary school staff were included. Only 18.8% had good knowledge about anaphylaxis, with the internet/social media as the main information source (56.5%). Most agreed on the importance of allergy education, reporting, and safety strategies for allergic children; however, only 40.8% believed that children with allergies were bullied. In practice, 26.7% had encountered an anaphylaxis case at school, but just 7.9% had administered epinephrine. School preparedness was limited, with 21.5% reporting the availability of anaphylaxis medications and 19.9% having an action plan. Better knowledge was associated with being female and witnessing anaphylaxis cases but did not correlate with practice or preparedness.
Conclusion: Despite positive attitude towards training and emergency plans, the overall understanding of anaphylaxis among Saudi primary school staff was inadequate. Female employees and those who had already encountered instances were associated with better knowledge about anaphylaxis. Current practices and preparedness were inadequate, highlighting the need for education on first aid and epinephrine availability.

Key words: Anaphylaxis, knowledge, practice, primary school teachers, Saudi Arabia