Abstract

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is very common in young and active individuals who have continued active participation in sports. This injury might cause functional disability with many economic and social consequences. So, there is a need to raise awareness of the general population about this type of injury in order to decrease its incidence and complications. Objective: This cross sectional study was undertaken to investigate the awareness of the general population in Albaha city, Saudi Arabia towards ACL injury. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was randomly distributed to individuals aged 18-60 years of both sexes, 464 subjects agreed to participate, answered the questionnaire and were involved in the study. Results: Findings showed that 77.8% of the study participants were aware of ACL injury and ranked it as a serious disease. Great percent (36.0%) of the studied persons realized the role of sports as a risk factor of ACL injury. The majority (60.8%) proposed an interaction between two or more of; incorrect technical movements, lack of self- protection awareness, insufficient preparation and overload of exercise. Low percentages of all participants considered prolonged walking, prolonged standing, going up and down stairs, prolonged sitting, getting up from a sitting position, kneeling or squatting or running actions that might increase the incidence of ACL injury. Conclusion: Findings showed reasonable awareness of the general population in Albaha city about the seriousness of ACL injury, but there was lacking in their information about risk factors other than sports, dangerous actions that increase incidence of ACL injuries and their characteristic symptoms. There is a need for increasing health education and raising awareness and more implementation of prevention programs for ACL injuries.

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