Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding sickle cell disease in adult sufferers and carriers in a rural area

Abstract

Background: According to State Health Society, there are about 30 lakhs sickle cell carrier and 1.5 lakhs sufferers in Maharashtra, prevalence being more in tribal population. As Sickle cell disease is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, it is important for patients to have awareness regarding its cause, treatment and genetic implication. To assess Knowledge, Attitude and Practices regarding sickle cell disease in adult sufferers and carriers. Materials and Methods: The present study is an cross sectional study, carried out in 232 adult sickle cell disease sufferers and carriers in rural area of Chandrapur district from July 2014 to December 2015. Results: Out of 232 study subjects, 17.24% were sufferers and 82.76% were carriers. Only 62.50% knew the correct cause and only 42.67% had correct knowledge of types of disease. 76.30% had correct knowledge about symptoms of disease. 40.09% patients were availing treatment of some kind. It was found that only 6.77% had done premarital screening of their spouses and 100% had screened their children for sickle cell disease. Conclusion: Knowledge regarding sickle cell disease, its cause, types, treatment and prevention is satisfactory in sufferers but not in carriers. Overall attitude towards treatment and prevention is more or less positive. Treatment seeking behavior is good in sufferers but not in carriers.

Study of knowledge of caretakers with children suffering from sickle cell anaemia regarding disease and prevention of transmission

“…Patil SS et al, Coretta M et al and Treadwell M et al, reported lower proportion of knowledge compared to present study. 8,9,11 In the present study 78.64% study subjects agreed that there is need to take regularly treatment for sickle cell anaemia. Similar findings were reported by Olatano et al, Coretta et al and Kofi et al 12,9,10 In the present study, 29.12% (n=30) study subjects were aware about own sickle cell status and 23.3% (n=24) were aware about sickle cell status of their spouse.…”

“…In present study, lower proportion of study subjects were aware about sickle cell status of their spouse. 8 Amongst the study subjects, about 19.41% agreed that there is need for pre-marietal screening of spouse for SCA. Similar findings were noted by Patil SS et al, Gamit C et al, Treadwell et a, Abd Nazir et al Knowledge towards premarietal screening of spouse for SCA was not good .…”

“…67% (n=69) knew that their other children also need testing of sickle cell anaemia Gamit et al, found only 9% study subjects knew the hereditary nature of SCA whereas Patil SS et al, reported 62.5%, Coretta et al reported 45% and Kofi et al observed that 75% patients knew the hereditary nature of the disease. [7][8][9][10] In this study, 78.64% (n=81) study subjects knew that folic acid should be taken regularly for SCA. Patil SS et al, Coretta M et al and Treadwell M et al, reported lower proportion of knowledge compared to present study.…”

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 District, Eastern Uganda

“…We used an interviewer administered questionnaire to determine awareness of SCT among study participants. The questionnaire was developed based on literature from the previous studies, 12 , 15 , 19 – 24 and pre-tested at St Benedict Medical Center in Mayuge District to check for clarity and comprehension. Following this, changes were made to suit the intended use.…”

Sickle cell disease prevention: How prepared are the senior secondary school students in Surulere Local Government Area, Lagos, Nigeria?

“…Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an autosomal-recessive genetically transmitted haemoglobinopathy that is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality. 1 Sickle cell disease results from a point mutation in the gene, a substitution of glutamic acid with valine at position six of the haemoglobin beta chain, causing an abnormality in haemoglobin synthesis, leading to the production of red blood cells that have an abnormal sickle shape. 2 The different forms of SCD include sickle cell anaemia (haemoglobin SS [HbSS]), sickle cell haemoglobin C (Hb-SC) and sickle cell thalassaemia (Hb-SSthal).…”