Background: Saudi Arabia is a developing country and due to the multidimensional aspects, with geographical, ethnic, and socioeconomic factors, the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infections and resultant peptic ulcer disease (PUD) varies in different reports across the country. Thereby, this study aimed to assess the level of awareness of the general population in Jeddah about PUD and to explore the relationship between the level of awareness and different socio-demographic factors.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 620 participants were randomly enrolled from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2020. A pre-tested questionnaire was used in data collection.
Results: This study comprised 78.1% female and 21.9% male; most of them were graduates (75.3%), employed (53.4%), and Saudi nationals (96.1%). There was an overall poor level of awareness of PUD among the general population (n = 382, 61.6%). Significant differences were observed in awareness based on the gender, age, and level of education, as the calculated p-values for these parameters were recorded as 0.000, 0.002, and
0.010, respectively. Higher awareness was associated with male gender, (25-34 years) age group, and graduate participants.
Conclusion: The level of awareness about PUD was insufficient among the general population in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The awareness of PUD among the general population must be improved to compensate for this knowledge gap.
Key words: Awareness, peptic ulcer disease, Jeddah, general population
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