Knowledge and attitude of Engaged and Recently Married Couples Toward Premarital Screening: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background and Objective: Despite that inherited (thalassemia and SCA) and infectious (hepatitis B, hepatitis C and AIDs) diseases and their risk factor consanguineous marriage are widespread among Yemen population, community-based awareness studies towards premarital screening (PMS) is extremely limited, so our study is designed to elicit knowledge and attitude of engaged and recently married couples in Taiz (Yemen) toward PMS. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to September 2021 at Taiz. A well-structured questionnaire was designed and then delivered to participants to collect data. Results: The results revealed that majority of respondents (83.60%-94.18%) had knowledge about inherited and infectious diseases, respectively, and educational institution was the main knowledge source. Females had significantly higher knowledge than males ( P ≤ .01), except about AIDs since no difference ( P = .539). The results also revealed that majority of respondents had positive attitudes toward PMS, except toward AIDs testing since 70% of males and 68.91% of females had negative attitudes. The majority of respondents agreed that screening reduces the diseases incidence. Approximately half of respondents (50.79%-56.61%) tend to go ahead for marriage in case of positive results for inherited and infectious diseases respectively. Making PMS as an obligatory step prior engagement was agreed by 47.62% of respondents (45.71% of males, 48.74% of females). Conclusion: A high level of knowledge and positive attitudes toward inherited and infectious diseases and PMS were reported. This knowledge reflected on the agreement of majority of respondents regarding PMS importance in term of reduction of diseases incidence.

Assessing Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding the Risks and Prevention of Consanguineous Marriage: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey

“…This is in line with previous research that most respondents agreed that premarital screening reduces the incidence of diseases. 26 Women, students in health-related colleges, and a participant's parents' non-consanguineous marriage were all significantly associated with knowledge of pre-marital screening. 27 This study demonstrated that knowledge scores on consanguineous marriage risk and prevention were influenced by age, gender, parental history of consanguinity, family history of consanguineous marriage, and family history of inherited disease.…”

“…This is in line with previous research that most respondents agreed that pre-marital screening reduces the incidence of diseases. 26 Women, students in health-related colleges, and a participant’s parents’ non-consanguineous marriage were all significantly associated with knowledge of pre-marital screening. 27 …”

“…The current study aligns with previous research, which found that most respondents agreed that pre-marital screening could help reduce the incidence of diseases. 26 As such, it is important to consider pre-marital screening as an important measure in addition to other methods of disease prevention. This is supported by the survey results, which indicate that over 80% of respondents believe that pre-marital screening does not infringe on personal privacy.…”

“…The previous study reported that in the event of positive results for either inherited or infectious diseases, about half of the respondents (50.79–56.61%) tend to proceed with marriage. 26 Another study shows that about 178 (37.4%) respondents were willing to cancel their marriages if their pre-marital screening results were incompatible. 27 Knowledge of pre-marital screening, enrollment in a health-related college, and the conviction that pre-marital screening does not affect one’s destiny positively correlate with attitude toward pre-marital screening.…”

“…This is in line with previous research that 47.62% of respondents (45.71% of men and 48.74% of women) agreed that pre-marital screening should be required before engagement. 26 Even so, (50%) of respondents answered “neutral” to the question, ‘it is important to apply a law that stops marriage upon discovery of the presence of a genetic disease.’ This indicates the marriage decision must be left to the couple’s freedom.…”