Efficacy of premarital genotype screening and counselling on knowledge toward Sickle Cell disease among university students in Dodoma Tanzania: an uncontrolled quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Background: Tanzania is experiencing an increasing burden of Sickle cell disease, with anestimate of20.6% prevalence of Sickle Cell carriers. However, there is no preventive measure has been put in this area by the government; a great focus has been directed on the diagnosis and management and national guideline emphasise the care of people affected by Sickle Cell Disease. Methods: A non-controlled quasi-experimental study was conducted from June to September 2020 among 697 randomly recruited first-year university students from the University of Dodoma. Pre and post-test knowledge information were collected through structured self-administered questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS v20.A simple and multiple linear analysis models was used to test for significant association of variables at 95% CI, at p<0.05. The results were presented using tables and figures. Results: The mean knowledge score at the pretest was 0.009±1.014 which improved to 0.365±0.901 on the posttest, with a statistically significant difference (t=6.965, p<0.01). The results of linear regression showed that knowledge change was not statistically associated with other predictors (p>0.05) Conclusion: Health education demonstrated to be effective towards change in knowledge on sickle cell disease among University students