POPULATION AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE OF SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS INTAIF, SAUDI ARABIA

Background: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease that necessitates a multidisciplinary approach. Many studies showed misconceptions and low awareness in different regions of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The aim: of this study is to evaluate the level of awareness among general population in Taif city, Saudi Arabia. Methodology:across-sectional study using a self-administrated online Arabic questionnaire. Results: a total of responses from 408 participants whose sociodemographic characteristics showed 34.8% belonged to the age group of 18-24 years, 66.2% were females, 53.7% were married, 83.6% were Saudis, 35.5% had post-graduate education, and 46.1% were medical students. The analysis showed that 89% had poor awareness, only 3.7% had good awareness and 7.6% had a fair awareness about SLE. Conclusion: This study showedlow general awareness and some misconceptionsamong the Taif-KSA population regarding the SLE. Recommendations: health education campaigns to increase awareness of SLE among the Saudi population, will be helpful to detect and diagnose early cases of SLE patients to reduce its complication and improve the quality of patients life.