Public Attitude and Awareness towards Tetanus and Its Vaccine in Riyadh

Objectives The objectives of this study were to assess the awareness of the public about tetanus and its relation to the demographic characteristics, the awareness about tetanus vaccine, and to identify the deficient aspects of knowledge in regards to tetanus in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Background Tetanus is one of the life threatening, yet easily preventable diseases as it causes for the affected patient involuntary muscle spasms which might lead to death. With the introduction of tetanus vaccine, the prevalence rate was decreased, but still present, thanks to the vaccine. In this study, we aimed to assess the awareness of the public about tetanus and its vaccine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Method A cross-sectional, survey-based study was conducted in different public places in Riyadh using a validated and a reliable questionnaire, with a calculated sample size of 377 people. They were surveyed about their demographics and their knowledge of tetanus and its vaccine. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the results and to report them as frequencies and proportions. Results Of the 377 Participants, 69.2 % of the sample size never heard of tetanus disease. Only 24.2 % of females heard of tetanus compared to 34 % of the male respondents who heard of it. Older people showed greater knowledge with 60 % of people greater than55 years old knew about tetanus, and the minority of young adults (15.8 %) knew about it. Also, people with better income heard of tetanus more than those with less income e. g.43.8 % of people with an income of greater than20000 SAR knew about tetanus and only 23.3 % of people with an income of