Awareness of Rheumatoid Arthritis among Population in Taif , Saudi Arabia.

Background: Rheumatic diseases have become a great burden of modern society causing disability, pain, social, emotional, and economic problems. Aims: To assess awareness level of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) among population in Taif city, Saudi Arabia. Settings and Design : Cross section study done by distributed a well-structured questionnaire designed specifically to this study and distributed to a random sample of population living in Taif City, Saudi Arabia. Methods and Material:  A structured questionnaire was designed for data collection to this study by researchers based upon review of literature. It includes two parts ; Socio-demographic data and knowledge questions toward rheumatoid arthritis; which include (causes, symptoms, diagnosis and complications of rheumatoid arthritis and protection from rheumatoid arthritis).Questionnaire was randomly distributed  through emails to a sample of people living in Taif , their ages ranged from 18 years old and above , responded people were 252. Results: Out of 252 respondents there were 239 (94.8%) male and 13 (5.2%) female with common age group (18-24) years with percentage of (65.5%), most of participant were Saudi 233 (92.5%) , Higher education level represented (81.7%), (52.4%) of participants heard about (RA) and  most of them have had an information about symptoms and prevention methods of rheumatoid arthritis by percentage of (86.9%),(33.3) respectively, most of participants answered that  X-ray and laboratory are the diagnosis tools of (RA) by percentage of (49.6%) . Statistical significant difference between difference between awareness of rheumatoid arthritis and level of education for participant P:≤0.05.