Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice of epistaxis among the population in different regions in Saudi Arabia

Background: First aid preserves life and decreases the consequences of illness and injury. Epistaxis (nasal bleeding) has been reported to occur in up to 60% of the general population. Objectives of the work: We aimed at evaluating knowledge, attitude and practice of general population about first aid in the management of epistaxis among Saudi Arabian population considering the socio-demographic characteristics. Participants and Methods: This is an observational cross-sectional study that had been conducted over a period of three months from 1475 Saudi Arabian participants from age group (>18 to >45 years old) willing to participate. The data were collected through an online published previously validated structured survey about knowledge, attitude and practice of epistaxis. Results: This study included 1475 participants, most of them were female (69.2%). It was found that 81% (n = 1195) of the studied participants had previous experience of exposure to nasal bleeding. With total practice and attitude score (71.7%) above median and mean 11.486 +/- 1.673 and the overall total knowledge score was 64%. It was found that age and gender affect the total knowledge score. Conclusion: The overall total knowledge score was good among Saudi Arabian population. Being exposed to previous nasal bleeding affected the total score of attitude and practice of exposed participants but did not affect the knowledge. We recommend that the knowledge of how to deal with epistaxis is important, and therefore raising public awareness is needed.