Knowledge of otic barotrauma among air travelers in Sialkot, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Otic barotrauma (OBT) is defined as traumatic inflammation in human middle ear that occurs at the time of avian drop. However, it can be avoided using its adequate knowledge. The objective of present study was to evaluate the knowledge of the trauma among air travelers in Sialkot city of Punjab, Pakistan. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study enlisted male adult International air travelers (n=50) from Sialkot city, Pakistan between November 2018 and April 2019 using purposive sampling technique. A specially developed questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha = .82) having 12 close-ended items on barotrauma (total possible score 12) was administered to the participants at their home. Level of knowledge was categorized as inadequate (score 0-6), moderate (7-9) and adequate (10-12). Pearson’s chi-squared test was used to see the association between adequate knowledge on the OBT and sociodemographic variables using a P-value