Abstract
Introduction: Low Back Pain (LBP) is one of the most common health problems and is considered the second highest reason for seeking medical advice. In most cases, LBP is not an indication of serious disorder, however, it can be considered the leading cause of disability and work absence around the world. In Saudi Arabia, it was found that the prevalence of LBP and pattern of its symptoms ranges from 53.2 % to 79.17 %. Aims: to assess the level of knowledge related to their disease, among patients with LBP..
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the region of Asser, Saudi Arabia and comprised patients presenting with lower back pain. In this study, we had used the Arabic version of validated questionnaire called (LBP knowledge questionnaire "LKQ") which was prepared and validated by Maciel et al. The questionnaire was distributed online using social media such as Facebook and WhatsApp between patients with non - specific LBP from both genders.
Results: We received 183 responses from patients with LBP. Among this sample, males represented 60.7 % of the sample. Furthermore, almost two thirds of the sample were married (57.9 %) and 39.9 % of them were single. Finally, we found that 49.7 % of the sample had monthly income of less than 5000. Considering level of knowledge about LBP in this sample, we found that almost all of the sample (97.8 %) had partial knowledgeable about their disease. Demographic factors such as gender, age, marital status and monthly income had no effect on this level of knowledge (P-value =0.103, 0.467. 0.661, 0.347 respectively)
Conclusion: We found in this study, that the level of knowledge among patients toward LBP was inadequate where most patients had partial level of knowledge about their condition. Age, gender, marital status and monthly income had no effect on this level of knowledge. More investigations should be conducted using another design such as prospective design in order to indicate the exact reasons for this low level of knowledge among patients toward LBP.