Parental Awareness of Liver Disease among Children in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Several studies have been conducted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to evaluate clinical manifestations, risk factors and epidemiological data in order to emphasize the need for educating the general public and to help in implementing community-based programs for preventing diseases. [1][2][3][4][5] The Hepatology Section of the Department of Pediatrics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC) is a national tertiary care referral center for pediatric liver diseases. We felt that most parents were unaware of various aspects of liver diseases, including symptoms, causes, diagnosis and the treatment modalities available.A survey was conducted among randomly chosen parents in the outpatient department and pediatric wards to assess and document the magnitude of this problem. The results suggest that except for the well-educated parents, the majority are unaware of the significance of the problems related to liver diseases among children. MethodsA questionnaire was distributed to 500 randomly selected parents who brought their children to the Outpatient Clinic or to the pediatric ward at KFSH&RC, over a six-month period between September 1995 and February 1996. The following were excluded from the survey: 1) parents of children with liver disease; 2) parents whose child had been admitted to the pediatric floor in the hospital for more than 24 hours; and 3) parents with a relative in the medical profession. After a brief introduction, a single trained interviewer explained the purpose of the survey. The parents completed the questionnaire written in Arabic by themselves. Parents who were illiterate were helped by the interviewer to fill in the questionnaire. The interviewer explained to the parents that the survey was strictly confidential. The different parameters included in the questionnaire are shown in Table 1.The frequencies of all category variables were calculated, and a table showing the association between the education level and different answers was created. Difference in means of continuous variables were tested for significance by Student's t-test. The P-value of <0.05 was used to indicate statistically significant differences. For small frequencies, Fisher's exact test was used. ResultsOf the parents taking part in the survey, 210 (42%) were below 30 years of age, 222 (44.4%) were between 30 and 40 years of age, and 68 (13.6%) were over 40 years. The number of fathers interviewed was 262 (52.4%) and mothers 238 (47.6%). Of the number interviewed, 89 (17.8%) were illiterate (education level 1), 66 (13.2%) had primary school education (level 2), 120 (24%) had intermediary school (level 3), 95 (19%) had secondary school certification (level 4), and finally 130 (26%) had university, or a higher education (level 5).The response to all categories of questions asked is listed in Table 1. The majority of parents (over 50%) had no knowledge about the location of the liver in the abdomen, symptoms and causes of liver diseases, infectivity of liver diseases, relationship of the disease to inher...

Medicinal plants used by women in Mecca: urban, Muslim and gendered knowledge

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“…In the Arabian Peninsula, where this study took place, the use of local plant diversity for medicines is part of the cultural heritage [ 34 , 35 ] and is currently embedded in Islamic medicinal practices. Islamic medicine integrates ancient Greek medicine, which first arrived to the Islamic world through translations of the works of Hippocrates, Dioscorides and Galen [ 36 ], with the teachings of the Prophet Mohamed (Hadith) referring to health, disease and medical treatment that became known as ‘The Medicine of the Prophet’ [ 37 , 38 ].…”

Emergence of Plastidial Intergenic Spacers as Suitable DNA Barcodes for Arid Medicinal Plant &lt;i&gt;Rhazya stricta&lt;/i&gt;

“…Approximately 80% of the world's population are inclined to use herbal medicines for their primary care [44]. Similarly, the Saudi population exhibits a keen interest in the medicinal species of the local flora [45]. For example, the numerous pharmacological properties of R. stricta make this a significant medicinal plant in this part of the world [46].…”

SHPIS: A Database of Medicinal Plants from Saudi Arabia

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