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ACKNOWLEDGING POPULAR MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT VITILIGO IN ASEER REGION, SAUDI ARABIA

Dr. Emad Bahashwan

Background: Vitiligo is an acquired pigmentary skin disorder that affects 0.5% to 2.0% of the population. Accordingly, this study aims at measuring the knowledge and conception among society in Aseer region of Saudi Arabia, exploring factors that might influence such beliefs (such as local culture) and exploring whether vitiligo patients require more health education. Method: A cross-sectional study. It targeted Saudi Adults in Abha and Mahayel Aseer. A simple Arabic self-administered validated questionnaire was utilized for data collection in shopping centers. The data was collected and then entered using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20. The SPSS was also used to process and analyze the collected data. Results: The sample size reached 300 individuals, of which 51% of the sample are males and 49% are females. Moreover, 287 (95.7%) reported they have heard about vitiligo, while only 13 (4.3%) reported the opposite. The responses showed that the majority (61%) have known from their friends. Furthermore, 53% have moderate level of awareness, while 33.4% have slight awareness about vitiligo. Only educational level has a significant relationship with the level of awareness (p-value= 0.000). Additionally, around 49% of the sampled individuals have positive attitudes towards vitiligo, while 41.5% have neutral attitudes. None of the demographic variables a have a significant relationship with the attitudes. Conclusion: The community in Aseer needs to strengthen their knowledge about vitiligo and change their mind about it. Keywords: Vitiligo, Saudi Arabia, Knowledge, Awareness, Attitude.