Authors: Jebun Nessa, Zakir Hossain Shikder A.H.M.
Introduction: Hemophilia is an awfully distressing and life-long disorder and little is known about the influence of socioeconomic status on its severity. Life-long treatment of a person with hemophilia demands a sizable financial load. The mild form of hemophilia may frequently be left undiagnosed till their adolescent or even later in life, mainly if a patient did not have any exposure to surgery or extensive dental work or severe injury at an earlier age. Since hemophilia is a life-long disorder that creates great physical, emotional, economic and social problems for those afflicted [1]. Therefore, it is a real burning issue to introduce any suitable procedure to take care of them as efficiently as possible.
Materials and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at the Pedodontics Department of Faculty of Dentistry, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Bangladesh, from July 2015 to June 2016. The present study was performed to determine the oral manifestations and oral health behaviors of children with hemophilia according to the sociodemographic perspective. For this study, a purposive sampling method was applied. The hemophiliacs (either hemophilia A or B) children, (5-12 years old) came to the department of Pedodontics of BSMMU for seeking dental treatment, were selected as a study sample. A total of 54 hemophiliac cases were included in this study.
Results: The mean age of the study subject was 7.2 years. From the study result, it was marked that the blood group of hemophiliac patients was mostly ‘O' positive (50%) whereas the least numbers of blood group were AB positive (5.5%). No one's blood group was (Rh) negative. 44.4% of study children had no detective family history of bleeding disorder whereas 55.6% had a strong family history. Only 13.3% respondent's mother was known carrier while 40% of families do not know about this. Amongst the parents, only 2 couples (3.7%) got married within relatives (first cousin). In terms of severity of the disease, study findings also described that the most number of study subjects were suffering from severe (44.4%) and moderate (38.9%) types of hemophilia. Except 1 no patient was capable of taking prophylaxis regularly. Among the participants, 47% belongs to the lower socio-economic status and the rest 53% from the lower middle class. No respondents were available from the upper middle as well as upper-class society.
Conclusion: From this study reflection it can be acclaimed to the concerned authority for providing factor VIII and IX at a cheaper rate or free for very poor patients. However, more study could be done focusing on the link of blood group as well as socio-economic status with hemophilia and its severity.
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