Abstract :
OBJECTIVES
To assess the thalassemic children’s parents’ knowledge level regarding Thalassemia.
METHODOLOGY
A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in two tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar from February 2019 to July 2019. Informed consent was taken from 100 participants before data collection. A validated and reliable questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. SPSS version 22.0 was used for data analysis.
RESULTS
Out of 100 participants, the majority (n=77) were female. The majority were unemployed and 47 were illiterate. Most of the parents had poor knowledge regarding thalassemia 28% were unaware that patients who have thalassemia are anemic, 89% had the opinion that thalassemia cannot be treated only with medications, 78% had replied to thalassemia cannot be treated with surgery and 56% were not aware that chelation is a treatment modality for thalassemia. The mean knowledge score of the total participants regarding thalassemia was 16.65±2.94.
CONCLUSION
Based on findings there is ample need for attention by the government and health care providers to provide education to the masses and must have to launch an awareness campaign about thalassemia. Furthermore, government and health care providers and society may encourage the preventive program to decrease the prevalence of this disease in Pakistan.
Keyword :
Knowledge, Parents, Thalassemia, Thalassemic Children