Assessment of Knowledge and Premarital Screening Regarding Sickle Cell Disease among Adults

Abstract

Introduction: Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is the disorder of the blood having tendency to get transferred from one generation to the next generation. Sickle cell disorder may be avoided if people become conscious of their carrier status and can do so by enhancing awareness and undertaking pre-marital screening. Understanding that even the Government of India promotes premarital screening of SCD before marriage. Aim: To assess the knowledge and screening regarding SCD among unmarried adult. Materials and Methods: An analytical research study with a cross-sectional research design was used. A total of 40 unmarried adults including male and female were participated in the study from November 2019 to December 2019. The samples were selected using purposive sampling technique and structured questionnaire was used for data collection and sickling test was used for premarital screening. Results: Most of the unmarried adults had average (40% subject) and good (42.5% subject) level of knowledge (Mean score 9.10±3.07) and for SCD, 18% of adults had positive premarital screening results. There was significant association of knowledge score in relation to education (p-value 0.02) and caste (p-value 0.047) of the adults. Conclusion: The study concluded that considering seriousness of SCD it is needed to get control over SCD and prevent transfer of it from one generation to next generation through public education, screening of SCD and other preventive measures.