Sickle cell disease in Bukavu

: Exploratory study of screening and knowledge, Attitude and Practice in student settings

Résumé

Introduction: Sickle cell disease is a common genetic disorder with high mortality and morbidity that mostly affects sub-Saharan people with a socio-economic impact. In the absence of proactive measures, the prevalence of this disease will continue to increase with respect to the number of people suffering or dying from it. This revelation prompted consideration of the preventative screening using PCR, while considering problems related to stigma surrounding the disease. Materials and methods: This research was conducted in Bukavu following a cross-sectional time horizon, with participants in DR Congo. The first step began by obtaining clear and verbal consent from participants prior to request their response to a questionnaire on their knowledge, attitude and practices related to sickle cell anemia. The last step consisted of DNA analysis of sickle cell anemia status using the PCR method. For psychological assessment, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used in the sampling process, while the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) score was used following the participants receiving the results in relation with sickle cell anemia status. Results: The sample group consisted of 633 volunteers for the first step. 41.1% of them have enough knowledge about the disease while the remaining majority having good attitude concerning the disease. 89.3% were not yet screened at the moment of this study. For the DNA screening step, we enrolled 177 students in a voluntary recruitment, with a male-favored sex ratio of 1.13; with the average age at 23.5+/-4.4 years. 1.1% of subjects were found to be homozygous SS; 13.6% were found to be AS carriers. The mean anxiety scores were 25.6+/-7.4 and 38.8+/-14.2 (median 34) for trait and state respectively. The average BAI was 8.1+/-0.5. Conclusion: Following the above results concerning students, it was found that knowledge is not enough and the need to be screened was expressed. Sickle cell disease is present in the student population given the number of carriers of the mutagenic gene. The presence of the disease calls for consideration of anxiety and depression due to the consequences and stigma related to the disease.

la date de réponse	19 janv. 2024
langue originale	Anglais
L'institution diplômante	Universite de Namur
Superviseur	ROLAND MARINI DJANG'EING'A (Promoteur)