Alkhalidi Majd F, Alruwaili Rahaf H, Alruwaili Araa G, Alqunayfith Nouf F, Alaried Badur M, Albader Raghad A, Telb Manal E
Medicine and Surgery, College of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka, SAU.
Medicine and Surgery, Collage of Medicine, Jouf University, Sakaka, SAU.
Cureus. 2023 Jan 27;15(1):e34255. doi: 10.7759/cureus.34255. eCollection 2023 Jan.
Background and objective Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are natural or synthetic molecules that can alter and affect the operations of the hormonal system of an organism. These compounds include plastic consumer products and food containers such as phytoestrogen, which is also naturally present in food. EDCs can be found in the cord blood and maternal blood of pregnant women, as well as colostrum. Hence, they may affect not only the mother but also the offspring. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the awareness among females of reproductive age regarding the nature, source, as well as physiological and psychological burden associated with sex hormones disruptors. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among females between the age of 15-45 years in the Al-Jouf region, Saudi Arabia. A self-administrated questionnaire was used as the data collection tool; it consisted of multiple-choice questions to obtain information on the awareness among the females. In this study, females were classified into those with good knowledge and those with poor knowledge based on their level of knowledge by using a scoring system with a total score of 12. IBM SPSS Statistics version 24 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) was used to analyze the collected data. Results The study included 491 females; 6.6% of them had been using soya-containing products for a long time, and 32.5% reported using oatmeal for a long time. The majority (86.2%) did not use any other hormonal therapy. There were significant differences in the knowledge about sex hormone disruptors among the participants, and women with poorer knowledge about sex hormone disruptors were significantly less likely to report the long-time usage of soya-containing food when compared to women with greater knowledge (2.2% vs. 4.2%, p<0.001). The results showed that women with poorer knowledge were also significantly less likely to report the usage of hormonal therapies when compared to women with greater knowledge (6.7% vs. 7.2%, p<0.001), indicating that the usage of these chemicals is higher in women with greater knowledge although they are aware of their effects. Conclusion The study showed that females had good knowledge about the nature and usage of EDCs but poor knowledge about their impact. The knowledge of females was associated with their behavior regarding the usage of such products.
背景与目的 内分泌干扰化学物质（EDCs）是能够改变并影响生物体激素系统运作的天然或合成分子。这些化合物包括塑料消费品和食品容器，如植物雌激素，其在食物中也天然存在。EDCs可在孕妇的脐带血、母血以及初乳中被发现。因此，它们不仅可能影响母亲，还可能影响后代。在本研究中，我们旨在评估育龄女性对性激素干扰物的性质、来源以及与之相关的生理和心理负担的认知情况。
方法 在沙特阿拉伯朱夫地区对15至45岁的女性进行了一项描述性横断面研究。使用自填式问卷作为数据收集工具；问卷由多项选择题组成，以获取女性的认知信息。在本研究中，根据女性的知识水平，通过使用总分12分的评分系统，将女性分为知识掌握良好者和知识掌握较差者。使用IBM SPSS Statistics 24版（IBM公司，纽约州阿蒙克）对收集到的数据进行分析。
结果 该研究纳入了491名女性；其中6.6%的女性长期使用含大豆产品，且32.5%的女性报告长期食用燕麦片。大多数（86.2%）未使用任何其他激素疗法。参与者对性激素干扰物的认知存在显著差异，与知识掌握较好的女性相比，对性激素干扰物知识掌握较差的女性报告长期食用含大豆食品的可能性显著更低（2.2%对4.2%，p<0.001）。结果表明，与知识掌握较好的女性相比，知识掌握较差的女性报告使用激素疗法的可能性也显著更低（6.7%对7.2%，p<0.001），这表明尽管知识掌握较好的女性了解这些化学物质的影响，但她们使用这些化学物质的比例更高。
结论 该研究表明，女性对EDCs的性质和用途有较好的了解，但对其影响了解不足。女性的知识与她们使用此类产品的行为相关。
