Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Oct 24;23(1):2081. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16980-2.
Anaemia persistently remains a grave public health challenge in most sub-Saharan African countries. Understanding the perspectives of young adults concerning the multi-factorial nature of anaemia may be an important step towards meeting the 2025 global nutrition target of halving anaemia since these individuals might be in the process of reproductive decisions.
To explore the relationship between students' knowledge about individuals at risk of developing anaemia, and anaemia consequences, and anaemia prevention strategies in a tertiary student cohort.
This sequential exploratory study adopted a mixed-methods approach to triangulate the data collection. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather baseline data regarding students' perspective on anaemia. Themes that emerged from the initial questionnaire data analyses guided a focus group discussion (FGD) to further explore students' perspectives on anaemia. FGD data was thematically analysed to unearth reasons behind questionnaire item selection. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore the relationship between constructs in the anaemia knowledge questionnaire.
Overall, 543 students participated in the initial questionnaire data acquisition compared to 16 in the FGD. Our latent variable structural model showed that knowing the causes of anaemia did not significantly (p > 0.05) associate with either knowledge about anaemia consequences (b = 0.113) or knowledge about anaemia prevention strategies (b = 0.042). However, knowledge about individuals at-risk of anaemia was significantly positively associated with both anaemia prevention strategies (b = 0.306, p < 0.05) and knowledge about consequences of anaemia (b = 0.543, 95%). Moreover, knowing the consequences of anaemia seemed to significantly positively mediate the association between knowledge about at-risk groups and preventive measures that could be adopted (b = 0.410, p < 0.05).
Systems thinking public health educational campaigns that highlight the consequences of anaemia and at-risk groups are more likely to inspire the adoption of preventive strategies among young adults.
在大多数撒哈拉以南非洲国家，贫血仍然是一个严重的公共卫生挑战。了解年轻人对贫血多因素性质的看法，可能是实现 2025 年全球营养目标（将贫血减半）的重要一步，因为这些人可能正处于生殖决策过程中。
探讨某一特定人群对贫血风险个体、贫血后果和贫血预防策略的了解与知识之间的关系，该人群为某一特定地区的大学生。
本研究采用混合方法，通过顺序探索性设计，对数据进行三角验证。使用半结构式问卷收集学生对贫血看法的基线数据，探讨学生对贫血的看法。从初始问卷数据分析中得出的主题指导焦点小组讨论（FGD），以进一步探讨学生对贫血的看法。对 FGD 数据进行主题分析，以揭示问卷项目选择背后的原因。结构方程模型（SEM）用于探索贫血知识问卷中各结构之间的关系。
总体而言，与 16 名参加焦点小组讨论的学生相比，共有 543 名学生参与了初始问卷数据采集。我们的潜在变量结构模型显示，了解贫血的原因与贫血后果（b=0.113）或贫血预防策略（b=0.042）的知识之间没有显著相关性（p>0.05）。然而，贫血高危人群的知识与贫血预防策略（b=0.306，p<0.05）和贫血后果（b=0.543，95%）均呈显著正相关。此外，了解贫血的后果似乎可以显著正向调节贫血高危人群和可采取的预防措施之间的关联（b=0.410，p<0.05）。
系统思维公共卫生教育活动强调贫血的后果和高危人群，更有可能激发年轻人采取预防措施。
