Volume 26, Issue 121, March 2022

A survey of the awareness level of intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring among students of the college of medicine in Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia

Salah Bakry^1♦, Jamil Adnan², Omar Babateen³

¹Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah city, Saudi Arabia
²Assistant Prof. of Public Health, health policy and management; King Abdulaziz University; Jeddah/Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
³Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology, Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Salah Mohammed Taha Bakry, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah city, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background/Aim: The neurodiagnostic test known as ‘Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring’ (IONM) is critically important in providing live-feedback during neurosurgery on the functional integrity of the nervous system. IONM is the use of electrophysiological methods and evoked potentials to detect neurological impairments, reducing the risk of iatrogenic damage. This study examines the awareness level of IONM among students of the College of Medicine in Umm Al-Qura University, and recommends strategies to bridge this knowledge gap. Methodology: A survey-based study was carried out on students from the College of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University between Septembers to December 2021. Results: There were 322 participants in the current study, with a mean age 22.03 ± 1.47 years. The male participants made up 73.9% against 26.1% females. The majority were 3rd-year students, while intern students were the smallest group. This study did not find any association between the level of awareness of IONM and the participant’s demographics. However, the association between students attitude towards IONM and their academic year was significant, particularly upon completing both neurosurgical and orthopedics courses (P-value, 0.000). Moreover, the correlation between students attitude towards IONM and gender distribution was significant as well, mainly males participants who is completing both neurosurgical and orthopedics courses (P-value, 0.001, 0.000, respectively). Conclusions: conceptual understanding of basic principles of IONM helps minimize medical errors and provide optimal care. We recommends for further studies investigating level of knowledge among health population and Saudis’ medical collages.

Keywords: Intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring, IONM, health students, awareness, knowledge, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms79e2109

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i121/ms79e2109

Published: 26 February 2022