Abstract
Background: Schizophrenia is a mental psychotic disorder where the patient may experience hallucinations or disorganized speech with the likely correlation with negative symptoms. This study aimed to estimate the knowledge, awareness and attitude of schizophrenia among health-related students at Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among interns and undergraduate students from different health related specialties at Umm Al-Qura University. Data is collected by an online questionnaire distributed via various social media platforms. Result: Out of 830 students, the overall response about previous hearing of schizophrenia was very positive, 85.1%. Unexpectedly, only a minority of students reported a good level of knowledge, 4.46%. In opposition, most students documented a poor level of understanding and knowledge, 53.98%. Students of college of medicine significantly correspond with the level of knowledge (P-value, 0.008). Further, students from the second academic year showed significant difference with a moderate level of knowledge (P-value, 0.013). In contrast students from the third year showed a significant association with a poor level of knowledge (P-value, 0.013). Conclusion: This study finds out that most students have an insufficient understanding of schizophrenia, a demand for further investigation among Saudi Universities. Additionally, this study found an incidental high level of students with a history of schizophrenia, which recommended screening of schizophrenia among students for early detection.