Beyond COVID-19: knowledge, awareness, perception, and attitudes toward olfactory dysfunction and its causes among the general adult population in Jazan, Saudi Arabia

<p><strong>Background:</strong> The sense of smell is often undervalued, yet its loss carries real safety, nutritional, and emotional costs. In Saudi Arabia, public-awareness research has framed smell loss almost only as a COVID-19 symptom, leaving broader understanding unexplored.</p> <p><strong>Subjects and Methods:</strong> A descriptive, analytical cross-sectional survey was conducted among 543 adults in Jazan. A structured, self-administered Arabic questionnaire assessed Knowledge, Awareness, Perception, and Attitude (KAP) domains. Data were analysed in SPSS v29 using chi-square tests, Spearman correlation, and multivariable logistic regression.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> Mean age was 36.80 &plusmn; 13.38 years; 425 (78.3%) participants were male. The overall KAP score was 75.77 &plusmn; 17.06%. Knowledge was poor in 283 (52.1%) and good in only 161 (29.7%) participants; the COVID-19-specific item was answered correctly by just 187 (34.4%). Awareness was good in 359 (66.1%) participants. Perception and Attitude were good in 341 (62.8%) and 339 (62.4%) participants, respectively. Health-related occupational background independently predicted good knowledge (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20&ndash;2.92). Bachelor-level education predicted favourable attitude (aOR 1.76), while student status lowered it (aOR 0.47). Knowledge correlated positively with awareness (rho = 0.500) and, more weakly, with attitude (rho = 0.271).</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Public knowledge of olfactory dysfunction beyond COVID-19 remains limited, even though perception and attitude are largely favourable. Targeted health education, aimed at less-educated groups and students, could help close this gap.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>