3.1 Characteristics of the study population
Of the 383 participants who completed the online questionnaire, only 257
met the inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Table 1
illustrates the demographic characteristics of the study participants,
where 156 (60.70%) of the participants were in the 18-25 years age
group (p=0.003, Table 1 ). Females (70.43%) represented
two-thirds of the entire sample. There was a minor discrepancy in the
participants’ ethnic backgrounds; 50.97% of them were not Middle
Eastern, while those of Middle Eastern origin made up 49.03% of the
participants. Regarding employment status, most of the participants were
students (50.97%), and most were not students; most of them worked in
the engineering sector (31.15%). A total of 42.41% of the participants
were residents of Sharjah, and most of the participants were not living
alone (93.77%). Those who obtained higher education accounted for
57.59% of the total sample population. A total of 34.63% of the study
participants fell into the second highest income range, which was
between 21,000 and 50,000 Dhs (p= 0.003, Table 1 ).