Awareness and Attitude About Ototoxic Drugs Among Medical Doctors in Arar City, Saudi Arabia

TL;DR

This study assessed how well doctors in Arar City, Saudi Arabia, understand the hearing-damaging effects of certain medications.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into physicians' awareness and attitudes toward ototoxic drugs in a specific region of Saudi Arabia.

Findings

Most participants had satisfactory knowledge about ototoxicity, especially regarding frusemide and aminoglycoside.

Clinical experience significantly improved knowledge scores about ototoxic drugs.

Acetaminophen's ototoxic effects were the least recognized among participants.

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the awareness of ototoxicity among medical doctors in Arar City, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study based on a pre-formed validated questionnaire (Appendix) that included three sections covering participants’ demographic data (three questions), their attitudes (five questions), and knowledge (13 questions) regarding drug-induced ototoxicity.

Results: After obtaining their informed consent, 213 physicians from government and private sector health facilities in Arar were enrolled in the study. Interns and general practitioners represented 57.8% of the participants; consultants represented 17.8%. Only 71.8% of participants were interested in drug-induced ototoxicity, while 26.3% considered ototoxicity a rare complication. Approximately 90% of the participants were knowledgeable about the adverse effects of drugs on the vestibulocochlear system, and 26.7% reported having experienced cases of drug-induced ototoxicity in their practice. Participants showed an overall knowledge score about ototoxicity of 9.3±3.27 (out of 14). The knowledge score was significantly higher (p-value=0.0007) for participants with more years of clinical experience. The most widely known ototoxic drug for participants was frusemide (72.3%), followed by aminoglycoside (68.5%), while acetaminophen (44.1%) ototoxicity was the least known among participants.

Conclusion: Awareness of drug-induced ototoxicity is satisfactory among physicians in the Northern Borders region. However, workshops about all types of drugs with ototoxic effects and the main lines for the management of drug-induced ototoxicity are recommended to increase awareness.