Background The main way to prevent blindness from Glaucoma is by early detection and diagnosis; and to do so the awareness must be raised among people where Glaucoma is defined as an acquired chronic optic neuropathy characterized by optic disk cupping and visual field loss. Lack of knowledge about this disease is one of the most important reasons that made it develop to advanced stages. Based on that, we conducted scientific research to assess peoples’ awareness and knowledge about Glaucoma. After reviewing the literature, it was found that this study is the first in Syria. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study in May 2022. The study included participants, who are above 20 years old, from visitors of Al-Mouwasat University Hospital in Damascus, Syria. During one week, Data was gathered according to the questionnaire, which was presented through face-to-face interviews with participants. We have allocated one point (1) to each question. Three levels of knowledge were adopted, namely; weak level from (0) to (3), average level from (4) to (7) and good level from (8) to (11). Associations between participants' demographic and other details were tested using Chi-square test and other tests, and a p-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results A total of 500 participants were interviewed. For awareness of Glaucoma, 33.6% of the participants (n = 168) had heard of Glaucoma, and 66.4% hadn’t (n = 332). Mean test results for the knowledge of Glaucoma was 1.62 out of 11, and only 8% of participants (n = 40) had a good knowledge of Glaucoma. Education Level, governorate, and department of hospital that the patient came for significantly affected the knowledge of Glaucoma. Moreover, hospital, Ophthalmologists' Clinics, and health staff (M = 5.45) were the better Resource for information than family, relatives, and friends (M = 3.16). Finally, social media and the Internet group had the lowest mean test results (M = 1.23). These test results were significant, with a p-value < 0.001. Conclusion The percentage of knowledge and awareness was significantly low. Organized community awareness methods must disseminate more ability to increase the general public's understanding to avoid injury and late diagnosis of Glaucoma.
Background:Based on the importance of surgical and clinical skills for any doctor, regardless of his specialty, it was necessary to assess the knowledge and familiarity of medical students and recent graduates with these skills, perhaps this assessment would be a constructive step towards improving the professional reality of all doctors in our country.Methods:We surveyed medical students in Syrian Universities by a questionnare which was published via online students platforms. Main topics of the questionnaire concerned basic surgical and clinical skills by twenty questions that were taken from international references.Results:The final sample was 500 questionnaires and 77% of the students had an intermediate assessment. A relationship was noted with the University where they studied and the gender of participants. The percentage of correct answers ranged from 29% to 76.8% for surgical skills and from 9% to 98.4% for clinical skills.Conclusions:We have noticed a defect in many students in applying their theoretical knowledge in a good practical way, so we suggested that these faculties adopt systematic plans to develop the teaching of these skills and provide efficient scientific expertise in addition to improving training methods by reducing the number of Students and placing them in an appropriate environment with securing the necessary laboratories and equipment.
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