Awareness and knowledge of postoperative surgical site infections in patients from Saudi Arabia: A multi-regional cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Knowledge regarding surgical site infections (SSIs) can help reduce hospital stay, morbidity, and mortality associated with SSI. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the knowledge and awareness of SSI among patients undergoing surgeries across Saudi Arabia. Methods: This multi-center cross-sectional study included adult patients (aged >18 years) who underwent surgery at six centers located across the five regions of Saudi Arabia. A 36-item questionnaire was used to elicit data regarding demographics, patient's health status, procedures, and hospitalization history and awareness and knowledge about SSIs. Results: A total of 375 patients were included (equally for all five regions of Saudi Arabia). Most patients were male (55.7%) and aged 18–34 years (44%). Most respondents (49.1%) had poor awareness; being illiterate and from the Northern region were significant factors ( P = 0.001). Patients with no history of surgery ( P = 0.001) or SSI ( P = 0.003) also had poor awareness levels. In terms of knowledge, 45.8% and 35.2% of the participants had fair and poor knowledge, respectively, with the level of knowledge being significantly associated with region ( P = 0.001). Patients those aged >65 years had poor knowledge ( P = 0.033), while of males had good knowledge ( P = 0.02). Patients with no history of surgery had poor knowledge of SSIs ( P = 0.003). Only 32.8% of the patients recalled having been educated by healthcare workers. About 42% learned of SSIs from sources outside the hospital, with internet/social media platforms accounting for 48.4% of such sources. Conclusion: A significant proportion of the patients included in this study had poor awareness and knowledge of SSIs. The study highlights the need for strengthening the preoperative patient education in Saudi Arabia to reduce the likeliness of SSIs.

Knowledge Regarding Surgical Site Infection Among Post-Operative Bariatric Surgical Patients in Al Ahsa City

“…This is in accordance with the Nepali Study, the mean score of SSI knowledge was higher in literates than in illiterates and the difference was statistically significant since the p value was<0.05 Additionally, Bajracharya et al found that the score was higher among participants who had history of previous surgery vis-avis those who did not, but the difference was not statistically significant. Another study conducted in Saudi Arabia revealed that 14.4% of study`s population had no history of previous surgeries and infections, in comparison to our study`s results where 48.9% patients reported no history of previous surgeries [7,8]. These results underscore the impact of educational background and personal experiences on knowledge acquisition and retention.…”

Knowledge, attitude and practices towards surgical wound care and healing among the public in the Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia

“…Our study's average SSI knowledge score was roughly fair, aligning with local literature (Alsahli et al; Malaekah et al). [17,18] Various factors, such as smoking, nutritional status, and chronic conditions like diabetes mellitus, can influence wound healing (Brown et al; Guo and Dipietro; Liu et al). [19][20][21] Our findings indicate that most subjects acknowledged the negative impact of smoking, nutritional status, aromatic odors (e.g., perfumes), and obesity on wound healing.…”

“…Our study’s average SSI knowledge score was roughly fair, aligning with local literature (Alsahli et al; Malaekah et al). [ 17 , 18 ]…”

Ongoing Strategies to Improve Antimicrobial Utilization in Hospitals across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA): Findings and Implications

“…Table S1 discusses some of the concerns regarding SSIs across the MENA region in addition to extended prophylaxis and potential ways forward to improve future antimicrobial prescribing. There is also a need to strengthen patient education regarding the role of preoperative antibiotics in preventing SSIs, given concerns with limited patient knowledge currently in this area [132].…”