Knowledge regarding Thalassemia among Parents of Thalassemic Children at a Tertiary Hospital, Province 2

Abstract

Introduction: Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder requiring lifelong treatment and care. Parents play a great role in the care of these children. Thus, this descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge of Thalassemia among the parents with children of Thalassemia.

Methods: Purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from 40 parents of children with Thalassemia attending a Tertiary Hospital, during April to May 2022 and meeting the eligibility criteria. Data collection was done through interview using self-constructed, semi structured questionnaire with the help of research assistant after ethical approval from IRC, TU IOM. The findings were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science version-16. Descriptive statistics (mean, frequency, percentage) and inferential statistics (Chi-square) were conducted.

Results: Findings revealed that 45.0% of the children were more than 5 years of age, 60.0% of the children were male and 77.5% of the children were diagnosed at the age of less than one year. 75.0% of the parents of children with thalassemia had inadequate and 25.0% of the respondents had adequate knowledge regarding Thalassemia. There was no association between age of respondent, relation with child, religion, residence, family type, education, occupation and income with level of knowledge.

Conclusions: Based on the findings it is concluded that majority of the respondents had inadequate knowledge regarding Thalassemia, especially in the areas like causes of thalassemia, carrier status, regular follow up investigations, treatment modalities and prevention.