Abstract

Background: Septic arthritis is an inflammation of the joint, and it is mainly a bacterial infection that is mostly caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Symptoms of septic arthritis are fever, pain, swelling, and loss of movement. This study aimed to assess the level of awareness of septic arthritis in general population of Saudi Arabia and to explore the relationship between awareness and different sociodemographic factors.
Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on general public in Saudi Arabia. An online self-administered validated questionnaire was used to collect the data from the participants via Google Form, from March to August 2020. An overall awareness score was used to calculate the average level of knowledge of the participants.
Results: A total of 460 participants were recruited to the study. Two-third of them (60.4%) had heard about septic arthritis. Majority of them correctly identified bacteria as the primary cause and S. aureus as the main causative agent. 29.1% claimed that hip joint was the most commonly affected joint, 63% identified the listed symptoms of the disease, and 62% of successfully recognized all the possible complications of septic arthritis. Most of the participants stated that both medical and surgical management was the management of choice for septic arthritis.
Conclusion: The study showed that the level of awareness toward septic arthritis among general adult population on Saudi Arabia is above the average level, and further studies are required to validate the results of this study.

Key words: Septic arthritis, joint, inflammation, awareness, Saudi Arabia