Knowledge, Attitude and Uptake of Premarital Screening for the Sickle Trait Among Married Couples in a Semi-Urban Community in South-South Nigeria

Abstract

More than 24% of Nigerians are carriers of the sickle cell gene, while about 2% of all the newborns in Nigeria are born with the sickle cell disease. The disease is a lifelong cause of severe morbidity that often require prolonged hospital admission; even as the patients have 92% excess mortality. The prevention of the disease is therefore very important, especially in Nigeria whose contribution to the global total has been projected to increase. Premarital screening for the sickle cell gene is considered one of the best ways of preventing the sickle cell disease. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and uptake of the premarital screening among married couples in Choba, a semi-urban community in south-south Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used, with the data collected using structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire that was administered on married male members of the study community. A total of 290 questionnaires were administered and retrieved. The respondents had an average age of 30.55 ±4.1 years; majority (65.86%) had a tertiary education and they were all Christians. All the respondents knew about the sickle cell disease, while 84.83% were aware of the premarital screening for the disease. All had positive attitude towards the premarital screening, with 88.97% recommending that the screening be made compulsory for all intending couples. Most (72.76%) of the respondents carried out the premarital screening when they got married. The age, educational attainment and the religious denomination of the respondents significantly influenced the uptake of the screening (p-value > 0.001). A total of 9.00% of the respondents were of the same HbAS genotype as their intended spouses; out of which 21.05% went ahead and got married, citing as reasons the difficulty of jettisoning their spouses (25.00%); and the power of God to prevent a child with sickle cell disease (75.00%). The knowledge, attitude and uptake of premarital screening for sickle cell disease are high in the study, even as the screening programme is not driven by the government. The input of the government is however required in providing health education, genetic counselling and prenatal diagnosis.

Premarital Sickle Cell Genetic Screening Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Compared Among Married and Unmarried Youths in Nigeria

“…The result of the assessment of the participants attitude shows that more than half of the participants n=249, 61.00% agreed that premarital sickle cell screening is necessary once the couples intended to marry. The finding on attitude in this study is consistent with the findings of a study conducted in southsouth, Nigeria, where the attitude of the students towards premarital screening was positive as 85.9% reported that premarital sickle cell screening could control the disease [13].…”

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Genotype Screening Among Undergraduate Students of the University of Abuja, Nigeria

“…Our study reported that majority of participants were aware of sickle cell disease and this finding is similar to that of Adewoyin AS et al, Olelaru F et al, Bindhani, and Smith M and colleagues who observed a high level of awareness of sickle cell among corps members in Benin City Nigeria. [16,31,32] Participants of our study also had a good knowledge of genotype screening for sickle cell although this was less than that observed by Adeyemo Oyenike et al, Precious Kalambe et al, Oludare et al [17][18][19] In contrast, Grosse et al, Isah BA et al and Ebele Uche et al reported poor knowledge of genotype screening. [20,21,29] Similarly, a cross-sectional study on knowledge of sickle cell, premarital screening and marital decision among local government workers in Ile-Ife, Nigeria by Abioye-Keteyi EA et al reported that 69% of the respondents had poor knowledge.…”

Ethical issues in denial of church wedding based on couple’s hemoglobin genotype in Enugu, south eastern Nigeria

“…Oyedele et al reported a premarital screening acceptance rate of 77.3% in Plateau state [21] and Gbeneol et al found that married couples in Choba, Rivers State have a positive attitude towards premarital screening [23]. In that study, 72.8% of the respondents had premarital screening before marriage, with 88.97% recommending that pre-marital screening be made compulsory.…”

“…The level of awareness and acceptance of pre-marital genetic screening for SCA in Nigeria appears to be high. There are reports of an awareness rate of 50.7% among youth in Tina community of Plateau state [21], 90.5% among national youth service corps member in Owo Ondo state [22], and 84.4% among married couples in a community in Rivers state [23].…”