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Background: The prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Saudi Arabian children aged 6–12 years is approximately 4–12%. The current study assessed beliefs and awareness regarding ADHD among Hail population.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Hail region, via online questionnaire for 422 participants aged 15 years or greater and residing in Hail.

Results: 94.1% had heard of ADHD, 5.9% had not. Of the former, 20.1% obtained their information from previous experience with a patient, 19.9% knew about the disorder through a medical website, 13.1% from books and journals, 37.0% through social media, and 9.9% did not mention the source. 54.3% believed ADHD to be a mixed disorder, that has behavioral, neurological, and psychiatric aspects while 26.8% believed it to be a behavioral disorder, 6.6% with neurological, 6.4% considered it a psychiatric disorder and 5.9% of respondents didn’t know. Regarding the cause, 11.4% believed it is genetic, 5.5% attributed the causes to nutritional habits, 5.6% attributed causes to food preservatives, 0.2 % believed it’s caused by smoking, and 77.3%thought it’s a multi-cause disorder.

Conclusion: This study reveals that the level of knowledge appears to be good among the population of Hail compered to Madina region.

Keywords

ADHD, awareness, saudi arabia

Citation

Al-Bluwe, A.J., ALShammary, R.N., Aldogeman, R.Z., Alrasheedi, H.M., Alshammari, A.M., Shahin, M.M., & Alreshidi, F.S. (2020). Awareness and Knowledge of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder among the Population of Hail, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Med J Students, 1(1), 69-79.