Knowledge, Attitude about Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease premarital screening among Saudi adults in Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Hereditary diseases are caused by an abnormality in an individual’s DNA, which include thalassemia and sickle cell anemia (SCD). Premarital screening is defined as testing couples who are planning to get married for common hereditary blood disorders and some infectious diseases to prevent any risk of transmitting these diseases to their spouse and children. To assess knowledge and attitude about inherited diseases (Thalassemia and SCD) in premarital screening Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia at different popular malls during the month of August 2019. A convenient sample of 675 was selected randomly recruited. The questionnaire included demographic data, diseases tested in premarital screening (PMS) knowledge and attitude towards PMS. Results: The vast majority of participants, 645 (95.6%) thought that carrying out premarital screening is important, 651 (96.4%%) agreed to carry premarital screening, 551(81.6%) participants had knowledge about the compulsory law to do PMS. Almost half of the participants agreed to take PMS for their partner’s safety, furthermore, (22.2%) agreed to do PMS to prevent transmission of hereditary diseases. Approximately half of the participants would discontinue the engagement if there is a possibility of having affected children, while 21% would base their decision on the probability of getting affected children and 14.2 % would go ahead and get married. Regarding gender attitude towards possibility of having affected children; majority of females (55.7%) and males (44.3%) would not continue marriage. Conclusion: There is very good knowledge about PMS, it is important to carry PMS, there is a need to increase awareness about SCD and Thalassemia to raise the number who will cancel marriage if any of these diseases are positive during PMS with the possibility of transmission to offspring.