Research Article

ASSESSMENT OF ATTITUDE TOWARDS PREMARITAL GENOTYPE SCREENING FOR SICKLE CELL DISEASE AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN NORTH WEST ZONE OF NIGERIA

1 Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, Faculty of Education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
2 Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
* Corresponding author: nbarauabdullahi@abueducationjournals.com
Published: Jul, 2021
Pages: 65-71
Views: 18
Downloads: 9

Abstract

This study assessed the attitude towards premarital genotype screening for sickle cell disease among university students in the North-West zone of Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population comprised 70,530 undergraduate students in the ten Federal universities in the North-West zone of Nigeria. The researcher sampled 572 students through multi-stage sampling techniques, which comprised of cluster, simple random and proportionate sampling techniques. A researcher-developed close-ended questionnaire was used for data collection. Out of the 572 copies of the questionnaire administered, 534 (93%) were used for data analysis; the remaining 38(7%) were considered invalid as they were not duly filled by the respondents. Descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages were used to describe the demographic characteristics of the respondents and answer to the research question was provided using means and standard deviations. Inferential statistics of a one-sample t-test was used to analyze the hypothesis at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that the respondents have an insignificantly positive attitude towards premarital genotype screening for sickle cell disease (mean = 2.53 and p-value = 0.164). Based on the findings of the study, the researcher concluded that university students in the North-West zone of Nigeria have a positive attitude towards premarital genotype screening for sickle cell disease. The researcher recommended that university curriculum planners should include the importance of premarital genotype screening in the school curriculum and the need for religious societies in the universities such as the Muslim Student Society (MSS) and Fellowship Christian Society (FCS) to periodically organize programs aimed at sensitizing their followers about the importance of premarital genotype screening for sickle cell diseases to correct wrong attitudes. 

References

  1. Adegoke, S.A. & Kuteyi, E. A. (2012). The psychosocial burden of sickle cell disease in the family, Nigeria. African Journal of Primary Health Care and Family Medicine, 4(1): 380-385.
  2. Ademola, S. A. (2015). Management of Sickle Cell Disease: A Review for Physician Education in Nigeria (Sub-Saharan Africa). Anaemia, 2015, 791498. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/791498.
  3. Al-Allawi, N.A., Jalal, S.D., Faraj, A.H., Shalli, A. & Hamamy, H. (2013). The first five years of a preventive programme for haemoglobinopathies in Northeastern Iraq. Journal of Medical Screening, 20(4):171-176.
  4. Centres for Disease Control (2016). Facts About Sickle Cell Disease. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/facts.html
  5. Centres for Disease Control (2017). Sickle Cell Disease Data and Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/data.html
  6. Debaun, M. D. & Galadanci, N. (2018). Sickle cell disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Retrieved from www.uptodate.com/contents/sickle-cell-diseae-in-sub-saharan-africa#H432682206 on 18th October 2018.
  7. Faremi, A.F., Olatubi, M.I. & Lawal, Y.R. (2018). Knowledge of sickle cell diseases and premarital genotype screening among students of a tertiary educational institution in South-Western Nigeria. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 1(1):285-295.
  8. Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (2018). 2018 Admission Statistics of Federal Universities in North-West zone, Nigeria.
  9. MedlinePlus (2011). Sickle cell disease: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and recent developments. Winter, 5 (4):18. Retrieved on 12th October 2018 from https://medlineplus.gov/magazine/issues/winter11/articles/winter11pg18.html
  10. Nwogoh, B., Adewoyin, A. S., Iheanacho, O. E. & Bazuaye G. N. (2012). Prevalence of haemoglobin variants in Benin City, Nigeria. Annals of Biomedical Sciences, 11(2): 60–64.
  11. Oyedele, E. A., Emmanuel, A. Gaji, L. D. & Ahure, D. (2015). Awareness and acceptance of premarital genotype among youths in a Nigerian community. International Journal of Medical and Health Research, 1(1): 17-21.
  12. Piel, F. B., Hay, S. I., Gupta, S., Weatherall, D. J. & Williams, T. N. (2013). Global Burden of Sickle Cell Anaemia in Children Under Five, 2010-2050: Modelling Based on Demographics, Excess Mortality, and Interventions. PLoS Medicine, 10(7): e1001484.
  13. Saidu, I. A. (2018). Knowledge of sickle cell anaemia, attitude and perception towards premarital counselling and screening among youths of Dala local government area, Kano, Nigeria. ScienceOpen Preprints. Retrieved from https://www.scienceopen.com/hosteddocument?doi=10.14293/S2199-1006.1.SOR-.PPO1ANO.v1
  14. World Health Organization (2006). Sickle cell disorder in the African region. Current situation and the way forward. WHO regional committee for Africa AFR/RC56/17-2006. Retrieved from https://www.afro.int/sites/default/files/2017-06/AFR-RC56-17%Sickle%20Cell%20Disease%20-%20.Final.pdf on 26th October 2018.
  15. World Health Organization (2008). Management of haemoglobin disorders, in Proceedings of the Report of Joint WHO-TIF Meeting, Nicosia, Cyprus.
How to Cite

Abdullahi, N. B., Dashe, V., & Ogwu, T. N. (2021). ASSESSMENT OF ATTITUDE TOWARDS PREMARITAL GENOTYPE SCREENING FOR SICKLE CELL DISEASE AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN NORTH WEST ZONE OF NIGERIA. Global Journal of Health Related Researches, 3(2), 65-71. https://doi.org/10.67203/gjhrr.2021.z0tczzro

N. B. Abdullahi, V. Dashe, and T. N. Ogwu, "ASSESSMENT OF ATTITUDE TOWARDS PREMARITAL GENOTYPE SCREENING FOR SICKLE CELL DISEASE AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN NORTH WEST ZONE OF NIGERIA," Global Journal of Health Related Researches, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 65-71, July 2021. doi: 10.67203/gjhrr.2021.z0tczzro

Share this article:
Facebook X / Twitter LinkedIn