Open J Public Health | Volume 1, Issue 2 | Research Article | Open Access

Knowledge and Attitude of Premarital Genotype Screening Among Women of Child-Bearing Age in Kumo-Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State Nigeria

Agofure Otovwe1*, Ume Ignatius Sunday2, Okandeji-Barry Oghenenioborue Rume3 and Danzaria Margaret Awulo1

1Department of Public and Community Health, Novena University, Nigeria
2Department of Intelligence and Security Studies, Novena University, Nigeria
3Department of Health and Social Care Management, London School of Management Education, United Kingdom

*Correspondance to: Agofure Otovwe 

Fulltext PDF

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of sickle cell anemia has been shown to be on the increase in Nigeria. Therefore preventive easures like premarital genotype screening have been proposed as one of the ways of reducing the scourge of the disease. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the knowledge and attitude of women of child bearing age in Kumo Akko Local Government Area of
Gombe State.
Methods: The study adopted a descriptive cross sectional design. A total of 296 respondents were sampled through simple random sampling technique and the collected data were analyzed using Statistical Product for Service Solution (SPSS) version 20.0.
Results: Majority of the respondents 200 (71.40%) were between the ages of 15 to 34 years old and 64 (22.90%) of the respondents affirmed that they had a family history of sickle cell disease. In addition, 58.60% of the respondents demonstrated poor knowledge of premarital genotype screening while 57.10% exhibited negative perception towards premarital genotype screening and 63.20% exhibited poor attitude towards premarital genotype screening. There was a significant relationship between respondents with family history of sickle cell anemia and their knowledge of premarital genotype
screening (P=0.000).
Conclusion: Therefore, efforts should be intensified by the governments and health workers in
primary, secondary and tertiary level of health care deliveries, to raise awareness on the importance
of premarital genotype screening in order to reduce the prevalence of the disease.

Keywords:

Attitude; Knowledge; Perception; Premarital genotype screening; Sickle cell anemia

Citation:

Otovwe A, Sunday UI, Oghenenioborue Rume O-B, Awulo DM. Knowledge and Attitude of Premarital Genotype Screening Among Women of Child- Bearing Age in Kumo-Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State Nigeria. Open J Public Health. 2019;1(2): 1006..

Subscribe to Our Newsletter