Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding wound care among general population in Aseer region

Wound care is observed to be one of the major challenge in health-care system. Wound infection is one of the major issues in medical treatment. There is limited information regarding knowledge and attitude of patients regarding care of traumatic wound. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding wound care among general population in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia.

This cross-sectional study was a questionnaire-based study conducted on general population from time period from September 2020 to November 2020. The demographic data collected were age, gender distribution, marital status, residence, job profile, income, education, habit of smoking and any comorbidities. To analyze the knowledge, attitude and practice of general population regarding wound care, 28 well-constructed questions were framed and asked. The response to all these questions was recorded and subjected to statistical analysis.

A total of 897 participants were included in the study. In total, 56.74% subjects of age group 41-60 years of age. In around 80% participants, no co-morbidities were observed. Around 29% participants had previous experience of surgical wound, with most common wound site being abdomen. The most common symptom in around 58% participants was excessive bleeding. Use of Alcohol swab and dry gauze were commonly used by participants as wound care measures.

We observed that knowledge, attitude and practices followed by patients were not up to the standard. As patients' knowledge, good attitude and practices are important in implementing newer management technique; thus, we advice to take necessary steps to improve the attitude and knowledge of general public.