Impact Of Population Screening Programs On The Knowledge, Attitudes And Practices Regarding Prevention Of Thalassema

Abstract

Beta Thalassemia is the most common genetic disorder in Pakistan. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of parents of children suffering from Thalassemia with regards to disease prevention. It also determined the degree of social and religious opposition faced by these parents during implementation of preventive practices Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted in the 36 districts of Punjab via nine regional centers of Punjab Thalassemia Prevention Project. 248 parents of Beta Thalassemia Major and Intermedia were interviewed using a pre-designed pre-tested structured questionnaire. All statistical analyses were conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS 23.0) Results: 83.5% of the respondents had adequate knowledge and 98.4% had positive attitudes. Knowledge and attitude were positively correlated (p=0.00). 93% opted for prenatal diagnosis and 91% opted for termination of affected fetus. Among these individuals 12% faced opposition from their family members when they went for diagnostic testing and this opposition rose to 20% when they had to opt for termination. The local religious clerics opposed prenatal diagnosis in 3% of the cases and termination in 7% of the cases Conclusion: When compared to previous studies the knowledge, attitudes and practices of our study population was better. Thus, population screening programs have a positive impact on knowledge, attitudes and practices of caregivers of Thalassemia patients. However, social and religious opposition needs to be countered for further implementation of effective preventive practices.