Department of Community Health and Primary Care, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
Pan Afr Med J. 2022 May 6;42:8. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2022.42.8.27705. eCollection 2022.
sickle cell disease (SCD) refers to a group of inherited blood disorders that are life-long and affect many people globally. An estimate of 2.3% of the Nigerian population suffer from SCD and about 25% of adults have the sickle cell gene. Premarital screening for sickle cell gene is considered one of the methods of preventing new births of children with SCD among the young adults. The study assessed the knowledge, attitude, willingness to take premarital screening test for SCD and factors influencing knowledge among young unmarried adults in an urban community in Lagos, Nigeria.
the study was cross-sectional descriptive among 300 respondents who were selected using multistage sampling technique. Data were collected using a pre-tested, interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS software, version 25. Univariate and bivariate analysis were conducted with level of significance at p ≤ 0.05.
the mean age of respondents was 21.2± 3.5 years, and most 188 (62.7%) were males. About 139 (46.3%) and 165 (55.0%) of the respondents respectively had good knowledge and positive attitude towards SCD and premarital screening. Only 43% of the respondents knew their haemoglobin phenotype, however, majority (92.4%) were willing to have Hb phenotype test done. Knowledge of SCD and premarital screening was statistically significant with age, level of education and occupation of respondents (p<0.001).
this study found less than half of the respondents with good knowledge, about half had positive attitude and poor premarital screening practices of SCD. Therefore, community-based health education and awareness programs on SCD and premarital screening among young adults is recommended.
镰状细胞病（SCD）是一组遗传性血液病，终生影响全球许多人。据估计，尼日利亚 2.3%的人口患有 SCD，约 25%的成年人携带有镰状细胞基因。婚前筛查镰状细胞基因被认为是预防年轻人 SCD 新生儿的方法之一。本研究评估了尼日利亚拉各斯一个城市社区中年轻未婚成年人对 SCD 的婚前筛查知识、态度、意愿以及影响知识的因素。
这是一项横断面描述性研究，共有 300 名受访者，采用多阶段抽样技术进行选择。使用经过预测试的访谈者管理问卷收集数据，并使用 SPSS 软件版本 25 进行分析。采用单变量和双变量分析，显著性水平为 p≤0.05。
受访者的平均年龄为 21.2±3.5 岁，其中 188 人（62.7%）为男性。分别有 139 人（46.3%）和 165 人（55.0%）对 SCD 和婚前筛查具有良好的知识和积极的态度。只有 43%的受访者知道自己的血红蛋白表型，但大多数（92.4%）愿意进行 Hb 表型检测。SCD 和婚前筛查的知识与受访者的年龄、教育水平和职业呈统计学显著相关（p<0.001）。
本研究发现，只有不到一半的受访者具有良好的知识，约一半的受访者具有积极的态度，但婚前筛查 SCD 的实践较差。因此，建议针对年轻成年人开展 SCD 和婚前筛查的基于社区的健康教育和宣传计划。
