Awareness of Sickle Cell Trait Status: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Antenatal Women in Ghana

Abstract

Abstract. This study was conducted to evaluate pregnant women's awareness of sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait and the factors that contribute to it. Two hundred and six pregnant women with at least 20 weeks gestation answered a questionnaire regarding awareness of their trait status and questions to test their knowledge of sickle cell disease. Although the majority of patients were aware of their trait status (87.4%), only 29% of knowledge questions were answered correctly; patients who self-identified as having sickle cell trait did not do better. Patients who responded that they knew a good deal about sickle cell disease scored an average of 3.5 points (number of correct responses to nine questions) more than individuals who responded that they knew nothing ( P < 0.001). Individuals who knew they had been tested for the sickle cell trait scored approximately 2 points higher than those who did not know whether they had been tested ( P = 0.004). Respondents with at least secondary education scored on average 1 point higher on the knowledge test than those with less education ( P = 0.004). Knowing someone with sickle cell disease was associated with a mean score of 1.25 points higher than individuals who did not know any affected individual ( P = 0.000).There is a deficit in the knowledge of sickle cell disease among Ghanaian pregnant women. Therefore, there is the need for public education on sickle cell disease.

To test or not: occurrence of sickle cell trait and assessment of the awareness toward its screening among patients attending Magale Health Center IV, Namisindwa&nbsp;District, Eastern Uganda

“…27 Although complex, the HbAS variant offers a protective advantage to infections common in our set up, such as infection with Plasmodium species, 6 , 28 – 30 and this risked 25% of the next generation to acquire HbSS if genetic counseling and testing is not emphasized. 21 , 22 Further, findings from our study have indicated an information gap regarding the existence of the sickle cell defects, similar to what has been reported by other studies. 7 , 9 , 10 Lack of awareness may portend the effort to lessen the risk of genetic cross-over that could multiply the trait incidence as well as the number of individuals who may inherit the sickle cell disease.…”

Prevalence of Hemoglobin-S and Baseline Level of Knowledge on Sickle Cell Disease Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania

“…Among the 300 participants who were screened for SCD, none knew of her SCD status prior to screening in the current study, including one participant who was found to be Hb-SS. This level of knowledge of personal SCD status is very low compared to that reported by Obed et al in Ghana where 10% of pregnant women self-reported sickle cell trait, and that reported by Treadwell et al where 16% reported knowledge of their sickle cell trait status ( Treadwell et al, 2006 ; Obed et al, 2017b ). Also, in a study of 147 African-American patients aged 18–50 years seen in an emergency department, 31% knew of their own trait status ( Burnham-Marusich et al, 2016 ).…”

“…This was again the same as other studies conducted in Nigeria which showed that higher level of education and knowing a relative with SCD or sickle cell trait was significantly associated with high knowledge of SCD (disease; Ezenwosu et al, 2021 ). Another study done by Obed et al showed that respondents with at least secondary education scored an average one point higher on the knowledge test than those with lower education, and knowing someone with SCD was associated with a higher level of knowledge than in individuals who did not know any affected individual ( Obed et al, 2017b ).…”

“…We expressed the descriptive statistics such as participant characteristics in frequencies and presented in tables. We graded the level of knowledge depending on the number of correct responses scored from the questionnaires which was constructed from different literature which assessed the level of knowledge on SCD in different groups including pregnant women, also modified to fit the local context ( Babalola et al, 2019 ; Obed et al, 2017a ; Al-Qattan et al, 2019 ). A correct answer was scored as “1” while a wrong response was scored as “0”.…”

Empowering newborn screening programs in African countries through establishment of an international collaborative effort

“…Education is particularly important when programs and ideas are new and in relatively low literacy settings. A number of studies in various settings in Africa have demonstrated the lack of knowledge about NBS and the specific diseases screened, not only among parents (Obed et al 2017;Aderotoye-Oni et al 2018) but also among health professionals (Adegoke et al 2018). Family advocacy experts from the US discussed not only the need for parent and professional education, but also the need for parent involvement in policyand decision-making activities related to NBS (Evans et al 2018;Forman et al 2013).…”