University students' knowledge, attitudes, awareness and practices (Pre-KAP) regarding thalassemia in a carrier screening campaign in Bangladesh

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> <bold>Introduction</bold> Thalassemia is the most common inherited hemoglobin disorder in the world. A thalassemia carrier is a recessive condition carrying one of the faulty genes that cause thalassemia. There is a 25% probability in every pregnancy of having this life-threatening disorder in a child. This study aims to investigate university students' knowledge, attitudes, awareness and practices towards thalassemia by conducting a pre-KAP study in a thalassemia carrier screening campaign in Bangladesh. <bold>Methods</bold> A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, from January 2021 to March 2021. The study involved 290 university students participating in a thalassemia carrier screening campaign, who completed a self-administered questionnaire about thalassemia. <bold>Results</bold> The pre-KAP study showed that 82.69% of students were familiar with thalassemia, but 76.47% of students answered incorrectly that thalassemia spreads through blood. More than 90% of the students (93.77%) believed that premarital screening is necessary to reduce the occurrence of thalassemia, and (92.73%) believed that raising social awareness for thalassemia is important. There were no notable distinctions between male and female participants in terms of their knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding thalassemia. <bold>Conclusions</bold> The findings indicate a critical deficit in accurate, specific knowledge despite general familiarity with the disease. his highlights the urgent need for targeted, evidence-based health education campaigns within academic institutions to correct misconceptions and empower future generations to make informed decisions about their health.

Ähnliche Arbeiten