Knowledge, Perception and Practices of Young Adults in Tema Towards Sickle Cell Disease.

Abstract

Background: Globally, about 25 million people live with sickle cell disease. In sub-Saharan Africa, there are 240,000 children affected by the disease and 50% - 80% of them die before the age of 5. Out of the total number of babies born each year in Ghana, 15,000 (2%) are born with sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder that affects red blood cells. Unlike normal red blood cells, which have an average life span of about 120 days, are smooth, round, flexible, and can easily move through blood vessels, sickle-shaped red blood cells are stiff and sticky and live up to about 10 to 20 days. Due to the increased rates of morbidity and mortality associated with the disease, The UN has declared SCD as a global public health concern hence the need to decrease the number of infants born annually with sickle cell disease in Ghana through advocacy and increased education of the general public especially young people who are of childbearing age. Aim of Study: The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, perception, and practices of young adults in Tema toward sickle cell disease. Methodology: This study was carried out using a quantitative research approach, with a cross-sectional survey of young adults in Tema. The study population for this research comprised 400 young adults between the ages of 18 to 40. The data collection tool which was a structured questionnaire was divided into 5 sections; socio-demographic characteristics and prevalence of sickle cell disease among young adults in Tema, their knowledge, perception attitude and practices towards sickle cell disease. Scores between 0 and 0.5 were considered as poor knowledge, attitude, perception, and practices, while scores between 0.6 and 1 were considered as good knowledge, attitude, perception, and practices. All of the "Yes" responses were the appropriate answers to the questions posed, which were scored as either 1 for "Yes" responses or 0 for "No/I don't know" responses. The data collected were stored in excel and analyzed using logistic regression models with the STATA software and presented in frequency tables, graphs and summary statistics. Results: Findings show that there was a 9% prevalence rate of SCD among young adults in Tema, 73.5% of respondents had good SCD knowledge, 86.8% and 60.7% had poor attitude and poor perceptions respectively and an overall good practice toward the disease. There was a significant association between educational level of participants and knowledge of SCD. Conclusion: In conclusion, there should be effective education on SCD to improve the knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and particularly, practices toward SCD to help reduce its prevalence in Ghana