Authors: Ola Mousa, Nadia Al Jaber, Fatimah Tawfiq Al-Ghaith.
Background: Sickle cell disease takes an exceptional place among the most common inherited disorders in Saudi Arabia, remarkably in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom. Understanding the disease and its effects as a result of consanguineous marriages is critical. The level of perception among the Saudi population regarding genetic testing and screening needs to be measured. Therefore, the main objectives of this study were to assess the current health knowledge and beliefs of the Saudi population in Al-Ahsa regarding Sickle cell disease and Sickle cell trait, and how this population perceived genetic testing and screening program of sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait in order to establish baseline data.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study of 205 Saudi subjects who attended the “Health Matters Seminar 2" (January 7-11, 2016). The subjects were selected by a purposive sampling technique, using a self-administered structured questionnaire.
Results: The study cohort comprised 205 Saudi subjects (32% male and 68% female) ranging in age between 10-60 years old. The subjects were interviewed and more than half (62.9%) had limited knowledge on how sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait are inherited.
Conclusion: There is a need to raise awareness on how sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait are inherited. In addition, there is a need to provide genetic counseling for the Saudi population in Al-Ahsa as part of the pre-marital screening (PMS) program.
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