Self-ear cleaning practice and the associated ear-related symptoms and injuries among medical students

Abstract

Objectives: The study sought to ascertain the prevalence; various methods used for self-ear cleaning practice and identify injuries during self-ear cleaning malpractice among medical students. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study with an online validated questionnaire conducted electronically from January to October 2022 among first, second, third, fourth and fifth-year medical students at Qassim University, including males and females in Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia. The study sample consisted of 386 participants: Males (n=202; 52.3%) and females (n=184; 47.7%). The distribution on the level of education was 1st year (n=85; 22%), 2nd year (n=67; 17.4%), 3rd year (n=81; 21%), 4th year (n=66; 17.1%) and 5th year (n=87; 22.5%). Results: The prevalence of self-ear cleaning practices among medical students is 83.2%, males (78%) and females (89%). The association between self-ear cleaning and experiencing ear or damage to the eardrum had no significant finding (χ² (1) = 0.017, p = 0.895). The students in the study acknowledge that they experienced different forms of ear symptoms. In terms of ear symptoms, itching was the most common (32.9%), followed by earache (27.2%) and a feeling of fullness (26.2%). The least frequent symptoms were vertigo (7%) and ear discharge (7.5%). Overall, there were significant differences between the methods used to clean the ears especially ear buds (93%) were the most common method. Conclusion:Our study demonstrates that, despite senior medical students' knowledge of medicine, self-ear cleaning still exists. This brings to a close the widespread lack of knowledge regarding how the ear naturally cleans itself.Therefore, the study advises highlighting the requirement for a medical education program on the issues with public health brought on by self-ear cleaning.