Abstract

Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. Asthma causes recurring periods of wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. The coughing often occurs at night or early in the morning, and it could increase intense physical activity. The current study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge and awareness and source of information about bronchial asthma among the Saudi population.
Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study. Convenience sampling approach was used to recruit 1,000 participants. A questionnaire was employed to collect the data from the participants after their informed consent. The received data were reviewed and analyzed statistically by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software.
Results: The study found that the majority of participants had knowledge about asthma and its exacerbation factors which increase the asthma attack risk. Knowledge among females was better when compared to male (p=0.001). Education qualification and type of educational institution where the participant studied were also found to influence the knowledge of the population toward bronchial asthma.
Conclusion: There is a need to receive additional training to recognize the early symptoms of asthma and seek the appropriate treatment. The delay in appropriate bronchial asthma treatment could result in serious consequences, including death. There should be educational programs that could provide awareness regarding bronchial asthma to improve the wellbeing of a child with asthma.

Key words: Knowledge, awareness, asthma.