Ataya Jamal, Soqia Jameel, Alfawal Massa, Kara Tahhan Nour, Albani Nour, Hani Yahya
Faculty of Medicine, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria.
Faculty of Medicine, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.
SAGE Open Med. 2023 Feb 18;11:20503121231155996. doi: 10.1177/20503121231155996. eCollection 2023.
Familial Mediterranean fever is an autoinflammatory autosomal recessive disorder common among individuals of Mediterranean descent. It is characterized by recurrent episodes of fever accompanied by peritonitis, pleurisy, pericarditis, and/or arthritis, sometimes accompanied by an erysipelas-like rash. Mimicking manifestation of other inflammatory conditions and the diversity of symptoms leads to insufficient knowledge and understanding. General knowledge about this disease is considered low in most populations, but this bears greater consequences in people with high incidence rates. This study investigates the knowledge of familial Mediterranean fever among a group of medical students in public and private Syrian universities.
A cross-sectional study was conducted in May 2022, and an international standard-based electronic questionnaire was adopted. The study included 758 current undergraduate medical scope students from public and private universities in Syria. The survey used for this study included inquiries made to assess awareness using global standards. It was divided into 2 sections, with 7 questions focusing on sociodemographic characteristics and 17 questions assessing the students' understanding of Familial Mediterranean fever.
Our analysis showed strong correlations between the knowledge of Familial Mediterranean fever and certain specialization, college, academic year, and marital status. The mean score of answers was 9.39 out of 17 for all participants. The mean score of answers for medical students was 10.01 out of 17, while it was 8.81 for pharmaceutical students and 6.51 for dental students. These differences were statistically significant, -value <0.001. This means medical students know better than pharmaceutical students, who already have better knowledge than dental students.
We conclude that medical scope students' knowledge about the disease of Familial Mediterranean fever and its management is ineffective, especially among dental students, even in a country with high prevalence rates for Familial Mediterranean fever like Syria.
家族性地中海热是一种常染色体隐性自身炎症性疾病，在地中海血统的人群中较为常见。其特征为反复发热，伴有腹膜炎、胸膜炎、心包炎和/或关节炎，有时还伴有丹毒样皮疹。由于其表现与其他炎症性疾病相似且症状多样，导致人们对其了解和认识不足。在大多数人群中，对这种疾病的普遍认知度较低，但在发病率较高的人群中，这一问题的影响更为严重。本研究调查了叙利亚公立和私立大学的一组医学生对家族性地中海热的了解情况。
于2022年5月进行了一项横断面研究，并采用了基于国际标准的电子问卷。该研究纳入了叙利亚公立和私立大学的758名本科医科专业学生。本研究使用的调查问卷包括根据全球标准进行的评估认知度的询问。问卷分为两个部分，7个问题聚焦于社会人口学特征，17个问题评估学生对家族性地中海热的理解。
我们的分析表明，对家族性地中海热的了解与某些专业、学院、学年和婚姻状况之间存在密切关联。所有参与者在17个问题上的平均回答得分为9.39分。医学生的平均回答得分为10.01分（满分17分），药学专业学生为8.81分，牙科专业学生为6.51分。这些差异具有统计学意义，p值<0.001。这意味着医学生比药学专业学生了解得更好，而药学专业学生又比牙科专业学生了解得更好。
我们得出结论，医科专业学生对家族性地中海热疾病及其管理的了解效果不佳，尤其是牙科专业学生，即使在像叙利亚这样家族性地中海热患病率较高的国家也是如此。
