Prevalence of β thalassaemia trait and Haemoglobin E disorders among students aged between 14-17yrs in Kurunegala district, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Introduction : Knowledge on frequency of carrier status of thalassaemia in a country is very important to form a plan of reducing the disease burden. In Sri Lanka, the amount of research done regarding the topic is insufficient considering  the amount of thalassaemia carriers  who  are  being  detected  island  wide,  which  is  increasing  in  numbers annually. Kurunegala is one of the districts in Sri Lanka where thalassaemia is prevalent. Objectives : To determine the prevalence of and factors associated with β – thalassaemia trait and Hb E thalassaemia among school children aged 14-17 years in Kurunegala district. Methodology : Descriptive cross sectional study. Using probability proportional to size sampling technique, 55 clusters of 30 students in the age range 14-17 years each, were selected from all the schools in Kurunegala district. Within each school, the required number of children was selected randomly. Results : Out of the participants (n=1821), 5.7% (104) were β  thalassaemia carriers and 1.2% (21) were Hb E carriers. Conclusion : The results of this study provided the true burden of β  thalassaemia trait and Hb E thalassemia in Kurunegala district. The study also revealed the distribution of β  thalassaemia trait and Hb E disorders within the district is not even. The frequency of thalassaemia showed a significant difference across ethnic groups in the district.