ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Knowledge and perception of otosclerosis among women in Saudi Arabia
Provisionally accepted
Reem Elbeltagy*
Shahad AljwayedSeham AlmutairiGhadi AlharbiLayan Alanzi Layan AlanziLila Almukhlifi Lila Almukhlifi
Rania Alkahtani- Department of Health Communication Sciences,, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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Background: Otosclerosis is a bone disease of the ear that primarily affects women and can lead to progressive hearing loss. Delays in diagnosis and treatment may occur due to limited awareness of the condition. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge and perception of otosclerosis among women in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted over three months, including 508 Saudi women aged 18 years and above. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 30. The Kruskal–Wallis test was applied to examine differences in knowledge and perception across demographic groups. Results: Most participants were between 18 and 30 years of age (70.7%), held a bachelor's degree (63.4%), were students (51.8%), single (66.5%), and residing in the central region (77.0%). The mean knowledge score was 2.44 (SD ±2.03), indicating low awareness, while the mean perception score was 18.18 (SD ±3.32), reflecting generally moderate positive attitudes. No statistically significant differences in knowledge or perception were observed across age groups, education levels, or regions (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Public understanding of otosclerosis in Saudi Arabia is inadequate, and reliance on unofficial sources may contribute to misinformation. Efforts to improve health literacy through public campaigns, reliable online resources, and greater involvement of healthcare providers are essential.
Keywords: Otosclerosis, knowledge, Perception, Saudi Arabia, Women
Received: 25 Sep 2025; Accepted: 31 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Elbeltagy, Aljwayed, Almutairi, Alharbi, Layan Alanzi, Lila Almukhlifi and Alkahtani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Reem Elbeltagy, ryalbeltagy@pnu.edu.sa
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