An Assessment of Knowledge towards Acute Cholecystitis among General Population of Albaha City

Alghamdi, Mohammed O.M.; Alghamdi, Fawaz A.F.; Alzahrani, Abdullah A.A.; Alghamdi, Abdullmajeed A.A.; Manakrawi, Saad A.; Alghamdi, Ghazi S.A.; Alzahrani, Mohammed H.S.

doi:10.21608/ejhm.2018.11394

An Assessment of Knowledge towards Acute Cholecystitis among General Population of Albaha City

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Faculty of Medicine, Albaha University, Albaha, Saudi Arabia

10.21608/ejhm.2018.11394

Abstract

Background: Acute cholecystitis is an acute inflammation of the gallbladder, and it is the most common cause of acute pain in the right upper quadrant. It is a critical clinical problem representing up to 5% of emergency room visits. Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the knowledge of the general population of Albaha City, Saudi Arabia towards acute cholecystitis (AC). Methods: A representative sample of 634 subjects from both sexes, aged from 18-80 years who completed a standardized questionnaire was involved in the study. Results: Only 48 subjects had history of the disease with a prevalence rate of 7.57%. More than half of the participants (58.7%) recorded family history of AC in one of their direct relatives. Great percent of the study participants considered obesity, high cholesterol and high triglycerides responsible for increased incidence of AC (59.9%, 54.3% and 66.9%). A high percentage of the participants (55.2%, 48.3%, 38.2%, 62.8%, 36.9% and 54.3%) did not know whether their food or habits could predispose to AC. Higher percentages considered intolerance to fatty meals, nausea and vomiting as symptoms of AC (55.5%, 48.9 %and 46.7% respectively). Most of the participants (75.7%) did not receive any information about AC prevention. Their established information was highly or to some extent effective in changing the participants’ life style (39.0% and 42.9% respectively). Conclusion: This survey has been useful in determining the current regional knowledge towards AC among general population in Albaha city. Such study emphasizes the need for more efforts that focus on novel preventive strategies to overcome the onset of gallstones. Further much bigger collaborative national studies are recommended.

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