Assessing Awareness about Degenerative Osteoarthritis among Medical Students in Syrian Private University

Introduction: Primary osteoarthritis is common in the elderly and may be asymptomatic in many patients, as approximately 80–90% of individuals over the age of 65 years have radiological evidence of degenerative disease. Symptoms usually become noticeable after the age of fifty years as a result of Age-related changes in collagen and proteoglycans that reduce the tensile strength of joint cartilage In individuals over 55 years of age, the prevalence of degenerative disease among women is higher than among men, and women are particularly vulnerable to degeneration of the distal finger joints (DIP). Women also suffer from degenerative disease of the knee joints more frequently than men, with an increased incidence of the ratio of females to males is 1.7:1 and women are also more likely to suffer from the erosive form of the degenerative disease, with a ratio of females to males of about 12:1. The degenerative disease affects focal areas within the joints: early in the disease, only a localized area is affected, although later it may spread to affect the entire joint. The places most affected in the knee are the anterior space of the tibiofemoral joint, the lateral face of the patellofemoral joint, the hip is the lateral side that is most often affected, and in the hands and feet the distal phalangeal joints, also the first metacarpophalangeal joint and the base of the thumb are often involved. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted using the appropriate sampling pattern among the students of the Faculty of Human Medicine at the Syrian Private University. The inclusion criteria included medical students studying at the Syrian Private University 18 years and over, and the objectives of the study were explained to the students in a written form attached to the questionnaire. Patients' data was tabulated and entered into the computer, and then the SPSS statistical package for social sciences version (26) was used to analyze this data. Results: Out of 451 students participating in the questionnaire, 49.7% of them were males and 50.3% of them were females. 79.2% of the students stated that they had prior knowledge of degenerative disease, while 27.1% of the students mentioned that they had relatives with degenerative disease. The medical students showed a mean consciousness score with a mean of 6.3 with the data skewed ± 2.4. The majority of the participants had an average degree of awareness of 61.2%, 21.3% showed a poor degree of awareness, and 17.5% showed a good degree of awareness about the degenerative disease. Conclusion: This study shows that medical students at the Syrian Private University have an acceptable knowledge of degenerative disease, with differences in sex and its absence about the university average. The data revealed a lack of knowledge regarding the diagnostic criteria for the disease. Educating medical students about screening, diagnostic criteria, and treatment guidelines for degenerative disease can bring us one step closer to good disease management in Syria.