Volume 26 , Issue 1 , June 2024 , Pages 39-46
Chiman Jamal Ahmed 1 ; Karim Fatah Aziz 2 ; Muhamad Rashid Amin 3
1 Thalassemia and Congenital Blood Disorder Center, Sulaimani Directorate of Health, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq
2 College of Nursing, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq
3 College of Nursing, University of Sulaimani, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq
Background: Thalassemia is the leading hemoglobinopathy and a common public health
problem in Iraq. About 7% of the Iraqi people are carriers of this genetic disorder. Aim:
To assess parents' accurate knowledge about thalassemia disease in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq.
Subjects and Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 304
caregivers of thalassemia patients at the Thalassemia and Congenital Blood Disorder
Center, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, from February to July 2022—a validated questionnaire
collected caregivers' characteristics and knowledge of the thalassemia condition.
Results: Regarding the thalassemia patients’ caregivers’ sociodemographic data, most of
them were aged 36-49 years old (67.1%), females (59.2%), mothers (61.8%),
housewives (59.2%), lacked formal education (48.7%), had not enough income (57.9%),
and from urban area (78.9%), without chronic disease (76.3%). Also, most caregivers
were not undergoing premarital testing (81.6%), expressed readiness for antenatal testing
(63.2%), had a poor level of general knowledge about thalassemia (73.7%), and agreed
to abort their fetus if they knew about the condition during pregnancy (59.2%).
Regarding thalassemia caregivers’ level of knowledge, most caregivers (73.7%) had poor
general knowledge, 44.7% had good prevention knowledge, 65.8% had good treatment
knowledge, 61.8% had good perception, and 35.5% had a fair overall understanding.
There was a significant difference between knowledge level and gender, occupation,
education, relation, and residency (p=0.000). Regarding antenatal tests, caregivers who
had not performed these tests had a significantly lower mean knowledge level than those
who had (p=0.000). Conclusions: There needs to be more knowledge among patients'
caregivers regarding thalassemia. Thus, intensive courses and training should be given to
them to improve their understanding.