Educators' knowledge about sickle cell disease in the public schools of Montes Claros - MG

Abstract

This cross-sectional, quantitative and descriptive study assessed the level of information about sickle cell disease among educators in the public schools of Montes in which there are students with the SS homozygous subtype (sickle cell anemia). There were 136 educators in the research, 94.9% of them teachers, 2.9% principals and 1.5% supervisors We found that 67.6% had no knowledge there were enrolled students with sickle cell disease, 83.1% had heard of sickle cell disease, 47.8% classified it as an hereditary disease, 39% related it to nutrient defficiency, 64.7% could not differentiate between sickle cell disease and sickle cell traits, 65.4% had no information on symptoms, and 95.6% had no knowledge of the Teacher’s Manual on sickle cell disease distributed by the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA). Educators were unaware of the presence of students with sickle cell disease in the school, thus demonstrating the need for health education actions to promote better care for these students.