KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE REGARDING THALASSEMIA AMONG THE COMMUNITY IN ALOR SETAR
Omar Mihat, Nur Aisya Sofea Mohd Zohdee, Nurmaisarah Yusri, Nur Hannah Md Jelani, Syarifah Nurul Batrisyia Safwah Syed Mohd Asri, Auni Athirah Abu Bakar & Harif Fadzilah Che Hashim
abstract
Thalassemia, which is an autosomal recessive disease, is a significant public health issue in Malaysia as it is one of the most common genetic diseases in our country. Between 4.5 and 5.0% of the Malaysian population were reported to be the carriers of this disease and 3.0 - 40.0% were HbE (c.79G>A) carriers. Although thalassemia is incurable, it is controllable with effective prevention strategies that could decrease the percentage of affected births by approximately 95%. Thus, this study aimed to determine the knowledge and attitude of a selected community which is Alor Setar, regarding Thalassemia. Respondents living in Alor Setar with a variety of demographic backgrounds were evaluated in terms of knowledge and attitude regarding Thalassemia. The determination of the sample size was derived from a formula that utilised the current population number of 133,000 in Alor Setar and the prevalence of Thalassemia at 5.0 percent. The results were analysed using IBM Statistical package for Social Studies (SPSS) version 29 software. Descriptive statistics were employed to illustrate the socio-demographic features of the subjects. Using the One-Way ANOVA test, the degree of knowledge and attitude were analysed, and the Chi-Square test was employed to examine the relationship between the factors. The significance level was set at 0.05. The results indicated that 98.6% of the population of Alor Setar has a good knowledge of thalassemia, while the remaining percentage has a mediocre understanding. A significant proportion of the population of Alor Setar (86.1%) holds a good attitude towards thalassemia, and the remainder individuals hold a moderate stance on the matter. In conclusion, the research undertaken in Alor Setar unveiled a commendable degree of community awareness and perspectives regarding thalassemia. Significantly, the research demonstrated a correlation between residential location and attitudes towards thalassemia, underscoring the influence of geographical location on attitudes towards the illness. These results support the alternative hypothesis that there is a substantial association between factors associated with thalassemia and that knowledge and attitude regarding thalassemia are both favourable.
references
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2. George E, Tan JAMA 2010. Genotype-phenotype diversity of β-thalassemia in Malaysia: Treatment options and emerging therapies. Med J Malaysia, 65: 256-260.
3. Mohammad Azmi Che Mat, L. H. (2020). Parental Knowledge on Thalassaemia and Factors Associated with Refusal to Screen Their Children. The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences, 124-133.
4. Wong LP, G. E. (2011). Public perceptions and attitudes toward thalassemia: influencing factors in a multi-racial population. BMC Public Health.
5. Zilfalil Bin Alwi & Sharifah-Nany Rahayu-Karmilla Syed-Hassan (2022) Thalassemia in Malaysia, Hemoglobin, 46:1, 45-52.
6. Zhang H, Zhabyeyev P, Wang S, Oudit GY. Role of iron metabolism in heart failure: From iron deficiency to iron overload. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis. 2019 Jul 01;1865(7):1925-1937
7. C.R. Vasudeva Murthy, Muhammad Zarif Asraf Bin Zulkeflle, Sunil Pazhayanur Venkateswaran & Ankur Barua (2015) Knowledge, Awareness and Participation of Medical and Non-medical Students in the Malaysia National Thalassemia Prevention Programme, International Journal of Human Genetics, 15:2, 61-72, DOI: 10.1080/09723757.2015.11886254
8. Noman Ul Haq, N. M. (2018). Assessment of disease state knowledge and awareness among the guardians of thalassemia patients attending different health facilities in Quetta, Pakistan. International Journal of Advance Community Medicine, 22-27.
9. Arthur W. Nienhuis, D. G. (2012). Pathophysiology and Clinical Manifestations of the β-Thalassemias. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med.
10. Martin, A., & Thompson, A.A., “Thalassemias Pediatric Clinics.2013;60: 1383–1391.
11. A Kukreja, A. K. (2009). Awareness Of Thalassaemia Among Rural Folks In Penang, Malaysia. The Internet Journal of Health, Vol 12(1).