KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDSTHALASSEMIA: INFLUENCING FACTORS AMONG ADULT POPULATION IN SHARJAH, UAE

Aim: Our aim through this study is to evaluate the participants’ general knowledge towards thalassemia and the different attitudes towards controversial issues surrounding thalassemia. Methodology: A cross-sectional study design was used. The study subjects were chosen to represent the adult population of Sharjah, UAE. A custom made self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data of a sample size that included 400 adults. The program SPSS 21 was used to enter and analyze the data. Results: Out of the total 400 respondents, 259 (64.8%) heard of Thalassemia previously. The main source of knowledge was through television (36.7%) while on the other hand the least was through health care providers (10.8%). Almost all of


Introduction:-
Thalassemia is an inherited disorder of red blood cells in which there is a defect in the production of normal hemoglobin. (Kukreja, Khan, Xian, Razley and Rahim, 2011).Thus, it is a group of anomalies in the synthesis of the beta chains of hemoglobin resulting in differentdegrees of severity that ranges from severe anemia to clinically asymptomatic individuals. Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen. Moreover, like in many other countries, especially south east Asian countries, thalassemia poses an important public health problem in the United Arab Emirates. There are 2 main types of thalassemia which are beta and alpha thalassemia, which are the defect in synthesis of the beta and alpha chain respectively. Also, in both types of thalassemia it can be sever or a mild disease. The clinical presentations of thalassemia includes, weakness, pale or yellow skin, abnormal skull shape, dark urine, and enlarged abdomen.Inheritance of thalassemia will depend on how many genes are missing from the parents, therefore if two genes are missing, the result will be thalassemia major, however if one gene is missing, it will lead to thalassemia trait or minor. The gene defect is deletion of chromosome 11 in thalassemia beta and chromosome 16 in thalassemia alpha. While thalassemia major usually present in very early life with severe anemia, symptoms of thalassemia trait can hide for years.Furthermore, transmission of beta thalassemia is autosomal recessive which means both genes has to be missing in order to have thalassemia major. The diagnosis of thalassemia is usually made on hematological and genetic testing.While the treatment of thalassemia often involves blood transfusion, a regular blood chelation is required which wash out the excess blood in the body. However, bone marrow transplant can be sometimes used especially in children. For that, genetic counselling is given to the family of the affected patients. Also, the outcome of the disease has improved significantly due to the advancement in the medication or procedures that are required for blood transfusion, removal of excess iron, or ways of treating the complications of the disease.

Aim:
Our aim through this study is to evaluate general knowledge towards thalassemia of 400 adult participants who live in Sharjah, UAE. And the different attitudes towards all aspects as well as controversial issues about thalassemia, including definition, diagnosis, transmission, consanguinity, prognosis, management,carriers, inheritance, and types.The knowledge was tested by using a questionnaire that contains questions for each category of thalassemia, and samples were selected randomly.

Design:
A cross-sectional study design was used.

Sample:
The study subjects were chosen to represent the adult population of Sharjah, UAE.

Instrument:
A custom made self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data of a sample size that included 400 adults.

Analysis:
The program SPSS 21 was used to enter and analyze the data.